There is a lot to love about being abroad and living a whole new life in another country. However, that does not mean there aren’t negatives. I am currently in the last few weeks of my program before I am to return to the U.S. and I have learned a lot. There are plenty of times where I got really homesick and needed to call my mom and have her send pictures of both herself and my dog. I will say that there is no real way to prepare yourself for the homesickness you feel when abroad because it can and will hit whenever and wherever. When those moments hit, it is important to put your mind on something else. For example, this current week there are a bunch of tests and quizzes going on for my classes and that is making me miss home quite a bit because normally whenever I have a stressful test or something I would go home for a bit and spend some time with my mom and dog. However, now that I cannot rely on them to help me, I am needing to learn how to deal with my stress in other ways. One way is that the program that I am in has scheduled things for us to do and things to go. I will get into this program more in another post but last night, there was a musical performance of The Sound of Music. This musical was based on the movie that was based off the real life events of the family that occured here in Austria. I decided to go to this performance even though it was right in the middle two of my bigger tests but I decided that taking a break would be for the best and when would I see this life performance again? I am very glad that I went because it did give me a break from studying. One thing that I have learned while being abroad is that while working hard is important, it’s not the only thing in life and that you just have to enjoy the time you have. I can’t believe that I only have four weeks left here in Austria before I will be making my way back to Denver.

It is completely normal to have moments of sadness and anxiety while being abroad I have had those moments and I know that my friends have had those moments as well. Stress plays a part in that aspect as well and yes it is normal but no it’s not normal for those feelings to take over your life. I think this image portrays what I am trying to say perfectly. There are grey skies covering the sky but down below, where you are there is still beauty to be seen and those grey rainy clouds shouldn’t be what you focus on. Just try to stay in the moment because in the end, it will all be worth it if you are truly able to engage in your life abroad and live with the locals and with your friends.

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