The feeling of being home varies from day to day. Some days I feel so blessed to be back with my family and friends and in a place where I am comfortable. Other days I loathe the familiarity I feel because I am scared I will simply regress back into who I was before I went abroad and it will be like those five months were just a dream, another life. When I first came home it felt as if I went back in time. The streets of my neighborhood appeared to be glazed in sepia tone, like an old photograph exposed to the sun. I felt as if I was living in flashbacks. This was because although everything around me had stayed the same, I had changed so much since I was away.
It is an odd feeling to find everything exactly how you left it and it feels even weirder to know you have a completely different outlook on the world we inhabit now than you did the last time you laid on your bed. Your mind drifts to other places and realities you have experienced that no one else here can relate to. People ask how your trip was but don't necessarily care too much about your response. You want to talk for hours about your journey but instead just smile and say "it was great." The thing I miss the most about studying abroad is the spontaneity of adventure and ease of going to new places. During my time in Ireland I could suddenly book a trip to Portugal, buy a plane ticket for 30-60 euro and be gone a few days later. The American culture does not coincide with a travel culture. We suffer through 9-5 jobs with only two weeks of vacation time and just assume that is how it is supposed to be. We often do not see past our own culture and look at other countries for inspiration in how to obtain a better quality of life. It is easy to dwell on these things and cry over how much better things were while you were abroad but instead I choose to embrace the now. While abroad I always chose a positive outlook even when things were bad because I was so fortunate to be there I didn't want to waste a second of it being upset. Why don't we carry that mantra into our daily lives? Why don't we stop worrying and getting upset and simply appreciate how fortunate we are to be alive or to have a happy and healthy family? There are joys and adventures in our everyday lives that warrant celebration. And that is what studying abroad as taught me: perspective. Be thankful for the life you have been given but use your good fortune to help those in need. Find a job that challenges you. Although my bank account is surely saying I cannot travel again this summer, when I am camp counseling I am transported into a child's world. I am a shark chasing my kids in the pool or an under water scuba diver searching for rings. Imagination in our everyday lives can transport us the way travel does because we are opening our minds and in turn, our hearts. Maybe this is sounds like hippie mumbo jumbo to you but to me it sounds like a way to lead a happy and fulfilled life every single day.
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AuthorI'm Angelisa. I am studying at NUI Galway for the semester and writing about my experience. Archives
June 2017
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