Sleep when you're dead.

Trying to pinpoint why this experience is so amazing is not always so easy.

Having fun just walking down the street in Vienna

Steph, Ali and I stepped through the passport control gate and made our way out of the Bratislava airport, ready for another adventure after spending five days in London. Surprisingly, even after London, the Slavic language was familiar. I suppose those previous weekends spent in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and yes, even Poland had acquainted us in some way with the language, even if we still had not idea what any of it meant. In fact, as we made our way out of the exit that we had never exited before, I felt entirely comfortable. Within minutes we had found an ATM machine and the bus we needed to transport us to center city Bratislava.

The bus took us only to the train station. We had no idea how to get into center city, but we quickly found a map and figured out exactly what we needed. While looking at the map, I realized that none of us knew how to get where we wanted to go, yet none of us worried or even cared. In the end, we found our way to exactly where we wanted to be. Though this may not seem like a huge challenge, I can definitely say from previous experience (cough, cough Poland) that trying to make out any Slavic word without any background knowledge is going to get you no where fast. But more significantly, it was strange to think of Bratislava as a familiar place, yet, somehow the three of us all did.

For a Monday night, the streets were extremely empty with only a few bums and scattered couples out on the town. We were a little worried about the seemingly lack of a party scene, but we pressed on recognizing the pink “Barbie Doll” mansion that we passed on our way to the center square. As we quickly found our way to the Mexican restaurant we so desperately craved, I became aware of my admiration of our ability to figure out everything we needed, even late a night in an Eastern European country with an entirely foreign language.

My Bratislavian example may not illustrate my point enough, so I will support this with a short side story. One of my best friends in the AHA program, Steph, is expecting a visit from one of her friends from home, who will also be coming to Paris for one weekend with us. Steph had to book multiple hostels for him to stay at both in Vienna and London and had to figure out round trip transportation from Vienna to Paris. Steph is a planning type of person, so by no means was she putting his reservations off, but she was taking her time with it. Her friend soon became irritated because he felt like he had to take care of transportation and places to stay as soon as possible, something that we all thought before embarking on this program as well. But now, we have become familiar with the fact that most travel preparations can be taken care of only a week or two in advance, if not in the very last minute. The contrast between Steph’s friend and our attitude now really signifies just how familiar we have become with travel in foreign countries.

The fact of the matter is: I can tell anybody just how much a study abroad trip will change their lives, whether or not it is to a remote third world country or to Western Europe, but the reasons for this I can not explain. This statement may seem like a cliche but it really is true. Not only will you learn a whole lot about yourself (what type of person you are, your tolerance level for uncomfortable situations or people, and how flexible you really are) but you will also learn how big yet small this world really is. Every country, every city and all the people just within Europe are so different from each other; yet all of these different cultures are so close to each other and so easy to discover.

I know that this is sounding like a lecture, but I truly do mean what I write. In all sincerity, I recommend everyone to have a study abroad experience. I hate to just come out and say it, but this experience really has changed my life, and I have trouble relating this unless I type a 3,000 word essay which no one wants to read. If you have the slightest inkling to travel abroad no matter where it is, please do. Your knowledge, tolerance and love of life will only increase. But as we American students in Vienna have come to say, live your life and stay up all night because there is plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.