What is it like preparing to go abroad for a semester? Both exciting and stressful. There is much to worry about but also much to look forward to! London is a big city and this is going to be my first time out of the country, so I am definitely nervous. Packing was a lot harder than I imagined, I had to go through all my clothes and pick out outfits that would go together in multiple ways in order to not bring many things. I also had many questions before departure which is expected, so I got a lot of information and reassurance from other family members that have traveled outside of the country and my program CIS. The thing that I fear the most is struggling to find a good group of people that are willing to travel and explore the same places as me. When it comes down to it, the making friend’s part is not that difficult and I’m sure everybody will be on the same page as me. Another one of my fears is that I will lose close friendships with my friends back home. I know I won’t be able to talk to them every day but before I left, they made me feel okay about leaving.
I am most looking forward to discovering new places and going outside my comfort zone. I cannot wait to see new places and travel to lots of countries around Europe. I’m not going to talk about the typical ‘finding yourself’ aspect but I am certainly excited to see how far I can push myself to try new and spontaneous things. There is a big world out there and I want to see the most I can of what is around me.
Leaving the U.S. and navigating the airport really is not too difficult. The worst part is going through customs and having your prepared documents ready to show to a border patrol officer. The directions were clear for me and I was met by my programs’ onsite coordinator at the airport. Overall, they made it very easy for me to get into London by providing us with transportation from the airport with the rest of the group.