Now I know I've been neglecting this blog... But can you blame me? Between host family changes and voyages I have barely had the time to breathe let alone update this. But I just sent off a little message to my Rotary club back home to post on their website so I figured I might as well get two birds with one stone and share what I wrote with my blog readers too. That is, if there are any left after how much I've neglected this thing... Anyway, here goes:
The 2-week bus trip over Europe that I had waited for with excitement for so long has come and gone, but not without leaving a special place in my heart. I can't begin to describe the amazing things we got to see in some of the most beautiful and incredible cities in the world: Paris, Munich, Innsbruck, Verona, Venice, Florence, Lyon... We saw things in real life I've only ever gotten to see in pictures or read about in stories. We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Notre Dame, Juliet (Guilietta)'s balcony... Both my camera and my mind are full to the brim with images and sights.
But even more important than the things we saw were all the things we got to do. When else in my life would I have gotten the opportunity to take a gondola ride through the canals of Venice? Or eat gelato four times in a day? Or find the best pizza I've ever had in a side street in Florence? Or take a picture with drunken German men in lederhosen? These are moments I could never forget, no matter what.
But most important, significant, and amazing would have to be the people that I met. Exchange students are, without a doubt, some of the best people in the world. It's not just the fact that we've all gone through the same difficult time in the same difficult country (in this case), it's the fact that we've all matured infinitely more than people our age. These experiences, easy or not, have helped us grow whether everyone realizes it or not. On top of that, having met so many people from around the world and experienced things outside of our norm, we're infinitely more open-minded. In the end, it didn't feel like we were from different countries at all, we were just a group of fun-loving kids there to make the best of 12 short days together.
At the time it felt like it might go on forever--like I might spend my whole life partying until late in the night, sleeping on the bus, and sight-seeing. But like all good things, it had to end. Like my exchange, it was only temporary. It gave me a preview of what going home would be like and it looks like going back to the US is not going to be easy. It's difficult to imagine that these people that I've shared so many laughs and tears with will no longer be a part of my life. That I'll never see them again. But they've made such an incredible impact on my life. They've shaped my exchange and therefore, they've shaped who I am today. While leaving behind my life here will be hard, leaving behind my friends will be the hardest.
If someone gave me the choice to go back 10 months in time and do it all over again, I would. Through the good times and the bad, every second of this exchange was worth it. I'll never forget it.
