Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ending Blog Questions Part 2 of 2 - Final Thoughts

How have you changed personally?

I'm not as scared. For me, that's kind of a big thing - I don't like facing people. I never have. But it's a bit difficult to be scared of someone you have the words to explain yourself to, after spending so long in a place where you didn't have words to explain yourself at all. The slower pace there got me to relax some, too. I was reminded that taking things slowly isn't a bad thing, and that things aren't as big a deal as I think they are - and accepting these things has really helped me to be more calm and happy in general.

How has your professional/academic goals changed?

They really haven't - not because the experience wasn't life-changing, but because the trip itself was partly focused on the goals I already had. I went to see other people, different systems. I went to broaden my understanding of the world, because the more I see and learn, the more I have to work from as a writer.

What self-discovery surprised you?

That I can have a lot of fun when I stop worrying about the world around me.

How did you navigate through your fears and apprehensions that you had prior to studying abroad?

I didn't go alone. Really, that was all I needed. I knew I'd have a line home at basically all times, and since roommate and I were going together, there was never a time I'd be completely lost or disconnected. Even if we did get a bit lost - and there were many momentary incidents of "oh geez, which way did we go, is this the street we're supposed to be on?" - we'd get lost together, and that would make it fine.

How has studying abroad impacted your view of the world?

There are different ways to live. We expect everyone to be basically the same in the U.S. - to have the same core, to follow the big general patterns of life that we're used to living and seeing lived out around us - but not everywhere is like that. Not everyone lives or thinks even remotely alike, much less the same. Going somewhere things are completely different will really get that across.

Single greatest benefit of studying abroad?

See above. You learn that the world is bigger than you know - bigger than you think you know, even - and there are more things in it than you can imagine.

What was your favorite experience and why?

I honestly don't have an answer for this. It was one big, crazy conglomerated experience for me, and every moment of it was basically wonderful. I was really and truly happy the whole time, and I will always be glad to have known that feeling.

What advice would you give to future participants?

Do it. Order the unfamiliar food. Take the field trip. Start the conversation. Shrug and bumble your way through it, and if you can, laugh too. Just do it - even if you end up less than happy, you'll be home soon enough, and you'll be able to say you did.

Would you study abroad again?  Where?  Why?

Definitely! Anywhere would be awesome, really, but I would probably go somewhere with a language that'd be easier to learn... Why I would go should be obvious from everything I've said here. As for why I'd go somewhere with an easier-to-learn language... it'd have been nice to communicate at least a little. Our class schedules stopped us from taking the basic Thai language course, and Thai is not a language that's learnable by solo study. I'm still not sure that we were saying our hellos, thank-yous, and I'm-sorrys correctly - in fact, we probably weren't. All the same, I'd go again. Same place, different place, doesn't matter - if I could, I would. The world is pretty darn cool.

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