Feeling weird...again

A few days after the last post, I started feeling much better. Much more comfortable. Not so weirded out.

Maybe it was because the sun was finally shining. Maybe it was because I got all my stuff unpacked and my new room all set up. Maybe it was because of the great shoe store I found right around the corner.

And then I went to Prague. This is my 3rd trip to Prague, because this is where my boyfriend lives. We came to Europe together, with the hope of staying here together for the next year. Although he is suffering from the same culture shock symptoms I am wading my way through, he is nice and settled here in Prague. Nice job, nice apartment, great roommates, and really awesome new friends. And Prague is happening. Breathtakingly beautiful and full of culture and history, Prague is definitely the place to be.

But now....we don't know if he can stay. It's long, complicated, and beureaucratic to the max. The reality is that if he goes home, things aren't looking so good for us. We're willing to try the long distance thing, but it's very hard to be in a relationship where you can't see the other person for months on end. And with school being my number one priority, I may not be able to live in the same city as him for 2 years.

Ouch.

I'm only writing about this because this is definitely something to consider when choosing to study abroad. Being so far from the person you love is nearly impossible--most everyone in my program who started out in a relationship has broken up with their partner by now.

So, now, I'm sitting in his house, waiting for him to come home from work, and wondering what the future holds in store for us. Feelin' weird again. I wish I knew what was going to happen. Hmmmm wait...no I don't. That would be way too boring.

I'm starting school in a few days, but now after 10 days in the Czech Republic, I'm not sure I even know how to speak German anymore...I'm scared!!! But that's not until Monday.

For now...I'm in beautiful Prague....and loving every minute :)

Prague Castle

Good times in a strange land

Long time, no blog. Sorry about that. I've been in a really weird head space lately and struggling with what to write. I wanted to keep this all positive, but the reality is, and this is something you should know if you want to study abroad, is that there will be good days and bad days and it's not always all fun and games. Actually, much of what you will go through is quite frustrating. But just as I've been telling my friends they've got to hang in there, it will get better, they're telling me the same thing....and I know they're right.

In the past 2 weeks I've been to Heidelberg, which is gorgeous...

Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle

and Munich, for Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest has been something I've been dreaming of going to for so long, and it was definitely all that I had hoped for and more. Getting back...was a different story. Let's just say you get what you pay for, and the cheapest ticket isn't always best. Helpful hint #1 when traveling on Germany's rail system, the Deutsche Bahn. If you need help, miss your train, find yourself lost, just go to the Deutsche Bahn information booth. They can point you in the right direction, or as in our case, they put us in a free taxi from Stuttgart to Horb (which would have been over 100 euros) when our series of 4 delayed trains caused us to miss our last connection home. A stressful night, but thankfully we all made it safely back to Horb.

In the past 2 days, I have left my host family in the teeny tiny village of Eutigen for the slightly larger but still small town of Tuebingen, where I will begin classes at the university in about 2 weeks. I've gone back and forth over the host family experience. Definitely worth it, and I definitely recommend it for any student studying abroad. It's a great way to experience the culture and learn how daily life is lived. But every coin has a flip side, and there were plenty of awkward moments and things I'm chalking up to cultural misunderstandings. But you know, that's what this is all about. And believe me, things that you learn the hard way are not easily forgotten.

So. Now I am in Tuebingen. This is what I worked so hard for. This is what I cried over when I thought I wouldn't be able to make it.

This is what I've been dreaming of.

Now...I'm here. Finally. It feels normal and inside out at the same time. Does that make sense? I find myself in yet another completely new situation. Living with strangers. That I haven't really met yet. I have no idea how this is going to go, and although I am trying to make myself comfortable, I'm really not sure what to make of this just yet.

But just when I want to hide in my room and shut this new world out, something inside me knows I need to go outside and see what's out there. Who knows what I might find??? It could make me feel better, it could make me feel worse, but I'll never know unless I go and check it out, right?

Oktoberfest, Munich!!!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

A moment of peace

I've been here in Germany for a little over a month now and I still don't think it's quite sunk into my brain that I am living here. I definitely have my good days and bad days, and although I've managed to settle into a little bit of groove, I still have a lingering cloud of discombobulation hanging over my head. To counteract my  scattered feelings, I try to stay as active as possible. I jump on every chance I can find to try something new. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not...but I still keep jumping.


Like our student group trips on Saturdays. We get to go to a different city in Germany every week, which, I must say, is truly awesome. What an amazing opportunity!! But...let's just say I feel really bad for our group trip leaders. As well as everybody else who has the unfortunate luck to be in the same train car as 50 super loud and obnoxious American students. It's a bit of a catch 22 for me. I love to travel, but not with such a big group. I like to stay with the group so I can experience new things with my friends, but I am also extremely independent and love to go and explore on my own.


Situations like this tend to drive me a little insane...


But...I always manage to find my "zen" moment, someway, somehow. Like yesterday, when we went to Konstanz, Germany. I stayed with the group for the first part, but then I broke off alone. I ended up on the trail around the Bodensee (Lake Constance), part of which is actually in Switzerland. I sat there at the edge of the lake, with the calm clear blue waves lapping against my feet, the distant sound of motorboats out on the water, and the soft autumn sun warming my face, and I felt a wave of comfort wash over me that I had no idea I was missing. It was the first time I felt truly at home in a long time. And it felt good. The best part was that I found that all by myself.

Ahhhhhh Konstanz....

The Bodensee and my moment of peace :)

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program 

How to survive culture shock

Culture shock. It's a real thing. And if you're going to study abroad, everyone is going to tell you about it. Wikipedia describes it as "the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown culture such as one may encounter in a foreign country."

Yep. It can come in many forms. You may feel angry at the people you are now surrounded by that are different from you. You may feel lost and isolated. You may feel such a whirlwind of emotions that you won't even know what to call it. For me, and lots of other students around me, it comes in the form of homesickness. Just this feeling of incredible sadness and depression, with the thought of "what am i doing here?" constantly running through the mind.

So what? Time to give up? Never!!! Here's some tips that helped me work my way through my own bout with culture shock (which I am sure is not over yet). Maybe it can help you too.

1) Don't isolate yourself. Do not, I repeat, do not lock yourself in your room because the outside world is too overwhelming. This is the quickest way to let culture shock take over!

2) Keep doing the things you love to do, but adapt these things to your new culture. For me, it's running, hiking, just being outside in general that I love to do, so I walk home from school every day, and try to get out running or hiking two or three times a week. It's a great way to still feel "normal" while experiencing your new enviornment at the same time.

3) Stay active. Make sure you don't have too much "downtime" because that gives you time to think about what every else at home is doing.

4) Get involved! Sign up for that class trip, go check out your new city, or invite a new friend over for dinner (it's especially fun to cook something for them that is native to your country that they've never tried).

You have to make the best out of every moment you have while studying abroad. It'll be over before you know it so make sure you don't let what could be the time of your life pass you by!

Get out there and enjoy it!!

 

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock

Living with a Gastfamilie

The part of my study abroad program that I was most apprehensive about was living with a guest family. For the first six weeks of our program, we students are split up and we go to live with individual families here in Germany. The purpose of the host family is for us to be able to really experience the German way of life. If we are sent straight to the university, chances are we will cling to each other as we suffer through our individual culture shock symptoms, and we won't get a chance to really experience German culture. We will stay nice and comfy in our little American bubbles we build around ourselves in this strange environment.

So, we split up. And live with German families. Some speak a little English. Some don't. Some speak a completely different dialect of German that even some other Germans cannot understand. How are we supposed to learn the German culture if we cannot communicate? How am I supposed to go from backpacking throughout Europe with my best friends all summer to living with a family I cannot even speak to? I haven't even lived with my own family since I was 18 years old!!!

But...it's part of the program. If I want to study abroad, I must do this. Once again, I will not back down now. Too late to turn back! I was very, very nervous to meet my family. What would they think of me? Will they hate my tattoos? Will I be able to talk to them? Will they understand that I am a vegetarian? Just how awkward is this going to be?

As it turns out, my family is great. The mom speaks a little English, and although communication is difficult, we are working through it. The dad speaks almost no English, so I have not been able to talk with him too much, but that will come. I am learning so much already! They have two kids--the little girl is 8 and the little boy is 5. They are a huge help to me, as they can work with me on the basics. We play games that are fun and help my German skills at the same time. My family is not the traditional German family I expected; they are very modern and act much like my family did when I was little.

So, while communication is limited to awkward sentences and lots of charades, I am adapting to family life and I am growing more comfortable by the minute. I spent my Saturday night jumping on a trampoline, painting 8 yr old toenails, and having ridiculous dance parties to very interesting German music, what about you? ;)

If you find yourself in this situation, grab a dictionary, put on a smile, and keep and open mind. Jump right in because you never know what will happen!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Finally on my way!

(as written on August 11th, 2010...on my way to Tuebingen!!)

Having never left the United States before this trip, I had my own stereotypical expectations about what it would be like to visit a foreign country. I knew I would have a difficult time with food since I am a vegetarian. I knew that I would end up getting really lost. I knew I would definitely stick out as a tourist in certain places. I had heard about culture shock, but did not really expect to encounter this sort of thing until I had actually settled down in Tuebingen.

At first, I felt pretty much at home in the countries I traveled to. Ireland's airport looks disappointingly a lot like the airport in my home town of Columbus, Ohio. Actually a lot of the rural areas I traveled to look like Ohio. It was not until I reached Amsterdam that I felt like I was truly in a different country, because the main language spoken there is not English. My boyfriend urged us all to learn a little Dutch for the few days we would spend there, but we scoffed at him, thinking, “Everyone knows English there, we'll be fine!”

Although this was true, almost everyone did speak a little English everywhere we went, we found it to be very much in our favor to speak a little of the native tongue in the countries we visited. We learned to say “hello”, “thank you”, “please”, “excuse me”, and “goodbye” in Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, and Czech, and this little bit of extra effort was much appreciated in every country. People were delighted and grateful that we had shown an interest in their culture, and weren't just there to party and find our way to the nearest McDonald's. Just as we have a stereotypical idea of what people from other countries are like, they have their own ideas of what Americans are like. Learning just a little bit of the native tongue earned us great service, good directions, and tips on the local spots we would not have been able to find on our own.

However, I did not make it much past the basics in any language that I tried to speak, and I found myself uncomfortably silent while at restaurants, grocery stores, and other social spots. I'm used to cracking jokes with the cashier, commenting on the weather with the server, discussing the scene with the bartender...and in a country where I can barely say “hello” and 'thank you”, I found myself doing a lot of smiling and nodding. Not being able to communicate felt odd and uncomfortable.

Going grocery shopping was a whole new world of frustration. It took me hours to grocery shop when I had to bust out the dictionary in front of every item I thought about buying. Several times, I had a very strong urge to just give it up and go home. I was sick of everything being so hard to figure out, and not being able to ask anyone for help was very discouraging for me.

But..there is no giving up now. This is my dream, and despite all the frustration and anxiety, I have faith that I will figure everything out. If there is one thing traveling abroad can give you, it is confidence and faith in yourself. As we speak, I am on bus from Prague to Stuttgart, where I will have to find my way to the airport to catch another bus to Tuebingen. I am alone for the first time in two and a half months. I am traveling in a country that I barely speak the language of, on a bus full of people speaking a second language I don't speak. Honestly, I am terrified right now. I have no idea what lies ahead of me, which is a very scary thing, but also very exciting. This is what I worked so hard for. This is the day I've been waiting for—the first day of the study abroad program. Wish me luck!!!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

So I cheated a little bit...

Since this blog is about studying abroad, I really should have started it before I left the country. However, my experience abroad started close to two months ago, when I flew from JFK airport in New York City to Dublin, Ireland with my boyfriend, my sister, and another friend of ours. From there we had a whirlwind backpacking trip around Europe for the next few weeks. After Dublin, we visited London, Brighton, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Barcelona together, then my boyfriend and I went on to spend a month in Italy, namely Cortona, Magione, Perugia, and Rome.

Seeing as this was my first trip ever out of the States, I found myself delighted and amazed at all the differences I found in each country. People are people, and they are pretty much the same no matter where you go. It's the little things that make the difference. Each country I visited had a unique way of doing everyday things--I almost got locked inside a public restroom Dublin because I couldn't figure out how to open the door (hint: there's a button you have to push next to the door to release the lock). But I'll keep it at that, because the real fun is discovering all this stuff on your own!!

Each country we traveled to brought a mix of wonder and joy, right alongside a heaping load of confusion and frustration. We spent many, many hours being lost, but after a day or two, we would start to get the hang of things. Once we finally started feeling comfortable, it was off to a new country and the game would begin again.

Now my travels are coming to a close, with just one more city to visit before I settle down in Tuebingen. The fears that kept me awake at night before I left San Francisco are starting to haunt me again...”What am I doing? I won't see my family and friends for a year? I won't see my cat, I won't sleep in my own bed, I won't have my stuff, all my comfortable, familiar stuff, for a YEAR!?!?” But I can't think like that. I have to take it one step at a time, and for now...that step is finding breakfast and a coffee!!

Abbey Road, London...shoes are wrong but was still fun!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program