Coming Home

Whitsunday Islands

It has been 81 days, 17 hours, and 19 minutes since I last was on Australian soil.

I have lived as an American again for nearly three months. I spent three weeks adjusting to the jet lag (and general aggression about my experience being over). I spent several weeks traveling, a month at home reconnecting with my best friends, and hours helping my mom craft for my sisters wedding. I went to a concert at my favorite venue with my favorite people, I had three separate July 4th celebrations on three separate days, I returned to Columbus to move in to my new apartment before starting work and then school, and I watched my sister walk down the aisle in the most beautiful and picturesque wedding I could imagine. I am four weeks into classes, clubs, meetings, and strict schedules. I am doing as much as I possibly can this semester, and I love every single event on my google calendar and impromptu excursion with friends. I am a senior at the best damn university in the land and I have pride to be a buckeye oozing out my ears.

But there are things missing.

Circular Quay

I don't hear the symphony of obnoxious birds when I wake up every morning, or walk to class terrified of the ibis' and searching for the kookaburras. I don't spend my Saturday mornings strolling around the Harbour with my friends or my week nights comparing Australian and American chocolates at rehearsal. I don't spend all of my free time booking flights and planning weekends to different beaches and cities. I can't take the train over the bridge and see the Opera House, the ultimate highlight of every trip into downtown.

I am no longer in the "study abroad bubble," and the adjustment home, the "reverse culture shock," if you will, is now getting close to as long as my abroad experience itself. My mind often drifts to my time in Oz, and I get an eerie feeling that I imagined it all. I pick up my phone to snapchat my castmates for a familiar face, and Courtney and I have exchanged more than one Friday night reminiscing phone call right before going out. I am home, and often very happy, but it's different. I am different.

Study abroad was the best and most enriching experience I have had to date. There is no way to concisely answer the question "how was it?" except for the adjectives I've begun to rattle off whenever I know the real, full length answer is not wanted: amazing, incredible, life changing, fantastic, wonderful. How do I tell friends, classmates, and acquaintances the impact it had on me in a five minute conversation? I don't. The fact of the matter is most people simply want to hear "amazing." And then continue on with a topic that applies to the here and now. I am grateful for the few who have genuinely tried to understand how it impacted my life, and even more grateful for the friends I have all over the country who do understand, because they were there too. And now, if you're interested, I'm going to try to help you understand as well.

So, what did I learn?

• Adaptation and accommodation. There was never a day that went exactly as planned, so I was always having to smile and make the best of the cancelled flight, the missed train, or the faulty directions.

Sleeping in Sydney Airport during a 12 Hour Delay

• To check my negative emotions and thoughts at the door. Study abroad wasn't always sunshine and roses, but despite the countless tears, the multiple break downs, and the emotional sledgehammer that came down in the middle of it all, I was able to take a deep breath and go on with each day with a smile. I knew that my time was limited (you're welcome, Alice cast), and I kept telling myself that I had not worked hard my whole life for heartbreak to ruin my dream. 

• Be Prepared! But not too much. Absolutely anything could happen wherever I went and I always tried to have the tools necessary to get through the blip in my plans, but I also never wanted to overpack. It was interesting finding the balance between needs and wants when I had strict carry on limits.

• Doing things for myself. I had never been in a situation where I woke up every morning asking myself what I want to do that day, without regard for anyone else's plans. I learned to love doing what I wanted and not caring whether anyone else wanted to come or needing to fit around other peoples schedules.

  

  Alone on my way up a mountain, at my own pace.

• Independence isn't just something to achieve, but something to cherish. I never thought I would be so satisfied by my ability to navigate customs on my own, or the common sense my parents have ingrained in me while exploring a new city. I quickly understood that I had been blessed by an upbringing and personality that made it easy for me to get by on my own, and that many had not. I quickly stopped taking my tendency to be independent for granted and raved to my parents for hours about how glad I was that they had taught me all they had.

• Theater people are the same fantastic, weird, ridiculous, and loving group, no matter the nationality. Enough said.
  

  

• Going for what you want means opening yourself up to every possibility. This is probably the most important lesson I learned while abroad. Although it sounds like a great idea, to be open to every possibility, I quickly found out that it meant being open to the negative outcomes as well. Studying abroad, being in Sydney, trying new things, skydiving, traveling...they were all that I wanted. But being abroad meant missing out on the things and people I loved back home. Even traveling meant that I could have a cancelled flight or a horrible hostel. There were risks associated with every dream I followed, risks that I had to accept before I could truly pursue my dreams, and some consequences that I'm still battling with today. But with that, I also changed my life for the better in ways I could never imagine. By following my dream of skydiving I opened my eyes to an entire career path that I never before considered. I changed my outlook on life and many of my short term and long term goals. I was infused with the adrenaline of that jump and I'm propelling my future in incredible ways because of it. 

Study abroad was the best experience of my life to date. I highly recommend it to every college student (in fact, I'm an alumni ambassador for GlobaLinks this year if you want more information). But what most people don't tell you is that there are highs higher and lows lower than you've ever experienced. You will come back and have to carve a new place for yourself in a world that is not the same as when you left it, but the people expect you to fit the same mold. You will be better for it all, but it's up to you to acknowledge and honor the person you've become.

My final view of Sydney

And you will spend time every day, sometimes every hour, thinking about when you can go back, and where your next great adventure will take you. 

Cheers,

Bethany