Over the past three months I have been to 9 countries and 19 cities, stayed in countless hostels, and spent hours on trains, planes and buses. It has been a whirlwind of a semester, but it has made me appreciate things I never did before and see the world in a different way than I previously did. Seven friends and I went to dinner in the nearby town of Asolo on Thanksgiving night. We told ourselves we would go around the table and discuss everything that we were grateful for, and we began talking about how weird it was that we weren't with our families for the first time in our lives.
The first thing I could think of that I was grateful were those seven girls, plus a few more. When coming to Europe, I didn't know one person or have one friend with me. For those of you that know me, you know that I like to spend the majority of my time surrounded by people; I really don't need much alone time in my life. Coming here without someone by my side was challenging at first, but I quickly found myself surrounded by a great group of friends. And while we are going back to opposite sides of the country, I know I will see them again because we have created a bond different than any other. It's insane how quickly you can get to know people by traveling and living with them.
I am thankful for the things I have had. I am thankful for planes, trains and automobiles because this experience would literally not be possible without them. I am thankful for Facebook, Skype, FaceTime and Viber. Without this technology I would have been much more homesick. I am thankful for Italian food and the fact that I haven't (yet) become morbidly obese from eating pasta every day. Yes, every day it is served with both lunch and dinner. That being said, I am thankful for good health. Being the hypochondriac that I am, one of my greatest fears leaving the US was the lack of medicine and proper healthcare in Italy. Luckily, I have stayed very healthy running on very little sleep. I am thankful for alcohol, and it's ability to let me stay out until 6 a.m., keep me warm wandering the streets of Ljubjana and other freezing places, and help me appreciate wine. I am thankful for Diego and his wife at the Tabacchi across the street who make me delicious, fresh sandwiches. And I am thankful for Paderno del Grappa, the teeny little town in which I live, and the amazing Mt. Grappa that I stare at every day out my window.
I am also thankful for the things that I have not had. It is such a true statement that being without something for a while makes you appreciate it that much more. I am thankful for heaters, especially as I sit here in my dorm room typing while wearing gloves. I requested that someone fixed my broken heater, but instead they just brought me an extra blanket...at least they tried right? I am thankful for salad dressing, the English language, stores being open from 1-3, cars, and the ocean. I am so thankful for my friends in Eugene and at home in Newport. You really see who your true friends are based on how well they try and keep in touch when you're thousands of miles away.
I know there is so much more that I have to be grateful for that I cannot mention in just a short blog post. But above all, I am thankful for my parents for giving me this incredible experience. I can't even count how many times over the past 90 days that I have thought to myself, "How am I ever going to thank them enough for this?"I have realized that I can never thank them enough, however I can use the unforgettable lessons that I have learned here, both from my education and my experiences, to shape my future life and career. I am 100% certain that I have learned lessons by being here that I would have never learned had I not spent 3 months outside of the United States. That is what I am most grateful for. I have gained independence, self-assurance, self-awareness, and an extreme drive to travel and see the world, among many other things.
So while I may not have had time to write about it last Thursday, I have been thinking about it non-stop for the past 3 months. I am so so grateful for this life that I live. I can't believe I have just five days left in Italy, but I am going to make the most of it (in between studying for finals) and cherish every last second of this incredible experience. Happy Holidays!
Last Tuesday night, the adorable lunch ladies, for whom I am also thankful, made us a proper Thanksgiving dinner. Not going to lie, it was delicious. And there was pumpkin pie (not pictured).
No comments:
Post a Comment