Year in Review Blog: Introspection

As the end of my first year in Germany approaches its inevitable conclusion, I reflect on my time here, the lessons I have learned and the person I have become. Many stories will get told for the first time, some existing stories will get a behind the scenes look. This series will last a week and by the end of the week, hopefully you will have a better view of what it is like to be a student abroad.

Episode 2: Introspection

It is said that one does not truly learn about himself until he has stepped out of his comfort zone. I think Martin Luther King Jr. said it well when he said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Studying abroad in a new culture, learning a new language, has been one of the best experiences of my life. But there is no way I would recommend it to everyone. I would however recommend it to anyone who was sure they could at their point in life, live independently a long ways from home, be willing to learn cultural differences not forcing your own into life abroad, and have at even the worst of days, a desire to learn something new. Every day is an adventure. Never has a day passed here where I didn’t think of something in a way differently than I would have last year, learn something new, or find out a little more about myself.

One of the best ways to learn things is to travel to new countries without the guidance of older leadership directly in charge, be it parents, teachers, etc. Going out on your own, with one or two other like-minded sojourners, is a fantastic way to learn things. It teaches independent creative thinking, open-mindedness, and on the go problem solving; for good examples of this read about our adventure to Lichtenstein. There we learned that while spontaneity is really quite awesome, there is something to be said for planning. But then again, it wouldn’t have made as good of a story.

I will always remember trying to sleep in a freezing cold parking garage waiting for the train. I will never forget the frustration we felt when we didn’t know the train system. But what will always stay with me is the learning that to survive, one learns to adapt to situations. We learned that it is illegal to sleep in a train station in Germany, and even though they are often cold, they are most often warmer than parking garages. To say this style of adventure is commonplace would be false. But the willingness to actually do it, combined with the inevitable potential to be in those situations, sleeping in the metaphorical parking garage shivering, wondering if this was all a terrible mistake, is when one is taught who they are; what they are made of.

As I stated in my blog Candy Canes and Garden Gnomes life isn’t always wonderful and fluffy while abroad because, well, it’s life. Life in itself has the ups and downs. If it weren’t for the lows we wouldn’t appreciate the highs as much. I have been lucky to not have to experience many (if any) truly low moments on this adventure called living abroad, but I have had some really great high moments. Living in Europe does have a certain romantic appeal. The towns are quaint, the atmosphere is often peaceful and within two or three weeks I felt at home here. One of my favorite memories was sitting in a small village eating supper out on a street café with friends while the sun sets behind a German castle on the hill in the background. This has happened several times, although not always with a castle and not always in Germany, but every time it is a truly wonderful experience, even that one time when it was freezing cold.

 One of the many challenges I face while over here is that, when I am away from Internet I do not have a functioning cell phone. This leads to many things. I often am on the hawkish, and assiduous hunt for free Wi-Fi. The lack of Wi-Fi and of a proper cell phone leads to problems with communication, planning, finding rides, meeting people, and many other things that I haven’t had to experience for many years. See in Germany, while it is one of the most technologically advanced countries, isn't keen on spreading the free Wi-Fi love that some other countries (ahem, Bulgaria) are eager to. In Germany, if I own a shop and offer free Wi-Fi, a nefarious fellow can come by and commit illegal and heinous crimes on his cellphone, like downloading that YouTube song or committing Cyber Espionage, and I as the Internet giver, am held responsible. For this reason, the free Internet you do find, requires the sacrifice of a baby seal, a drug test, and the name of every member of your family since Noah's ark (okay maybe just an E-Mail address and phone number). Therefore, I encounter the impracticalities of not having Internet a little more often than I would enjoy.

Despite the egregious inconveniences I have encountered, I have found a benefit to not having my cell phone constantly working. It is that it has allowed me to appreciate the simple things in life. I know that probably 80% of the time I am searching for Internet so I can use my phone, but that percentage has gone down from the beginning of the year. I slowly realize how nice it is to watch the landscape go by on the train, (unless in eastern Europe, then its more boring than the Midwest US), or to watch people in train stations. I still use my phone a lot, I have books and music on it, and the occasional free Wi-Fi, but I am remembering a little bit more, what life was like before cell phones. (No I’m not that old, my parents just raised me most of my life to not be dependent on them so I didn’t have one until later in life).

It will be hard to find something that can match the amount of learning I have accomplished while studying abroad. And I am convinced that there is no better way to learn cultures than to be immersed in one. Living abroad is as cool as it sounds. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. No amount of comfort-zone occupation would grow me as much as this. The challenge and controversy one finds in life, is where one finds who he really is. And I find out more about who I really am with each adventure I take.