The night before I left I
got very little sleep since I was so excited. My mum and grandpa picked me up In
the morning and we headed for the airport. It still did not seem real at that point
that I was headed to Europe again. My experience studying abroad last time
ended last May and I was flying home, now I am already going back! I feel so
blessed to have this opportunity to spend the next five weeks traveling and learning
so much history. As I got to the airport I waited to meet Nicole. When I saw
her coming I had to say my goodbyes. It was much different last year when it
was my first time abroad alone. This time I did not cry or tear up and at this point
of my life with all my accomplishments I believe my mum is proud of me so it
was good to see her happy and smiley as she left.
Nicole and I went to
security and as we were in the line for some strange reason I mentioned how we
could have limited liquids and she looked at me confused and I was like well we
can only have one zip lock of 3oz liquids. Turns out she thought we could have
as many as we want as long as they were in a zip lock. We spent the whole time
in line trying to fit all of her stuff into one and deciding which she should
toss. It was a good laugh.
When we got to the gate
we saw Bethany, Hannah, Elizabeth and Amber. It was so good that we all got on
the same flight. We spent quite a while talking about how little we packed! We also
talked about places we were most excited to see.
Our first flight to
Jersey went good. The girl next to me (late 20’s) started talking to me because
when she sat down she saw my shirt said “Walk Now for Autism Speaks” a walk I
did in November with my sorority sisters, turns out she sis from Jersey but
flew out for a conference for the walk. Such a small world! So we talked about
that for a while then I just slept the whole time.
Our layover was not that
bad, we got some food and got ready for the eight plus hour flight! Time came
to board and I thought it might hit me that I was finally leaving but it still
felt normal. Right when we took off and got above the clouds it got me excited
to be back in Europe again with all the gorgeous views!
The flight went pretty
fast. I just watched a movie, listened to music, at dinner, slept and then we
were there already! The dinner was rice, chicken and vegetables. It was not
very good, it could be because it was airplane food but it got me thinking how
many dinner dishes will be different in Europe and it doesn’t help that I’m a
picky eater.
After we landed Gene was
there to greet us right away which was nice! We then headed to the hostel. It was
clean (that’s all that matters since I am a germ freak). I got really excited
and wanted to explore right away. Overall my travel experience went really
well!
Advice for future
students:
-Talk with classmates
before the trip to try to get on the same flight! (It went smooth/fast/stress
free with others)
-Pack light! (hard
moving around and getting on the trains)
-Get classmates numbers
to talk with before the trip about what to pack/ideas (Nicole and I did this
and it really helped because I would think of something she didn’t and vice
versa)
-I also recommend
bringing basic colors that mix and match and can go with everything!
-Have
fun! J
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