Last notes

My parents picked me up at the airport.  Our car pulled into the garage and I leapt out, ran to the kitchen door, entered the house, and threw myself at our dog.  She spent my first day back confused and uncertain.  She spent my second day sitting on my lap.  On the third day I left the house briefly and she sat in front of my mom and stared at her, trying to gauge how my mom felt about me leaving, and when I came back an hour and a half later she greeted me excitedly at the door.  On the fifth day my mom and I packed a few things, grabbed a box of Christmas presents, and drove to Minneapolis so that I could meet my nephew.  My dog did not like us packing the car.  She barked and ran around the house and tried to keep us at home.  We returned on the sixth day and she once again took her spot in my lap.  We have now made it my to eighth day back in the country and we have returned to our normal routine: naps, sitting together as I do homework, snoring beside me as I try to fall asleep at night.  I am glad to be home.

Most common question while abroad:
Q: What do you miss most?
A: I miss my dog.  I can talk to my parents and my sister online but my dog doesn't understand.  I am looking forward to meeting my nephew, but I miss my dog.

22 hours of traveling later and I make it home to my dog.

I spent 176 days abroad.  I have had new experiences, met new people, and learned much from my classes and my daily interactions.  There were times when I was desperately homesick and times when I felt completely at peace with my decision to study abroad; the trick became balancing the two.  My last list for this blog will consist of different tricks I discovered that helped me keep this balance.

1. I numbered my days.  From the beginning to the end.  It sounds lonely and isolating, but it wasn't.  It helped me put my time abroad into perspective as I knew how long I had to go, but also how far I had come.
2. I arrived at campus early often.  Because I wanted: quiet + alone time + wifi + a place where I could plug in all of my electronics + a place where I could get ready for the day mentally,  I went to campus early and commandeered an empty classroom.  Very few people show up to class early and this gave me a place to relax in the mornings.
3. I split my time between hanging out with friends and hanging out alone.  This was another balancing act but it worked out nicely as we usually ate dinner together and then dispersed to our own different abodes to do homework.  It made it so that I didn't feel lonely halfway around the world from home.
4. I focused on the "now" when I was abroad.  I am graduating this spring, doing my honor's research project this spring, figuring out grad school options for next year, finding an internship for next fall --> all of this is important but also stressful.  And it's stress that I didn't need while studying abroad so I made room on my calendar to deal with everything when I returned to Ames.
5. I respected myself.  When going abroad, it is easy to overdue things and want to try everything.  But my body and I have been through a long journey together.  I saw an opportunity, asked my body silently if it was possible, and respected the answer my body gave me.  I didn't go cliff diving, or go on 4 hour hikes, or go mountain bike riding.  I did go to concerts, museums, lectures, visit nearby islands and towns, and see amazing temples.

These last few months have been wonderful and I encourage you to take the opportunity and  study abroad as well.