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Tomorrow is the day. It seems surreal, that tomorrow I will be embarking on yet another life changing adventure. Tomorrow I will leave my family again. I will say my goodbyes. But while goodbyes are sad, they also mark the start of something new. Tomorrow I will board my flights feeling both ecstatic and apprehensive. It will be a big change for me, but coming out of my little comfort zone in Boise, Idaho will help me grow even more and help me gain life experience so that I can go into the rest of my life with confidence. Here’s to a new adventure.
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One of my favorite things about exchange was gaining a second family. These past four weeks have been amazing for me, because my host sister came to visit. My German parents have also been here for the past couple days. It has been so much fun reminiscing on old times and sharing our favorite moments from that year we were together. It was fun to see what each of us had remembered, and old memories were brought to the forefront of my mind once more. Exploring Hamburg with my host sister, eating spicy food with my host dad, gallivanting through Weihnachtsmärkte with my host mom… It made me nostalgic and homesick for my other home.
However, it also reignited the excitement for my next year. I absolutely cannot wait to develop such relationships with my future host families and friends in Taiwan! I cannot wait to learn the language and culture! And, as of today, I am only two weeks away from starting this next adventure! No matter what hiccups lie ahead during exchange, chances are it will be a great year regardless. However, thinking back, there are a few tips that helped me make the most of my exchange year. Here are ten tips that helped me, as well as other exchange students, have a wonderful year abroad.
As many probably already know, I have already completed one exchange year. I spent my junior year of high school as an exchange student in Hamburg, Germany. I learned a lot during my year there, and my experiences from Germany are now helping me as I prepare to go to Taiwan. I have started a list of things I will be packing in about a month’s time, and while I will post something later as I actually pack my bags for a year, I thought I’d share three things I packed that benefited me while I was abroad, and three things that I will be changing this time around.
As I am nearing the time I depart from Boise for my next adventure, I have been busy preparing for that departure. Since I have graduated high school and will not be returning permanently to my parents, I am packing up my old life so that I can advance onwards after my exchange year. I have already filled two large bins with old sketchbooks, momentos, and clothes I will not take with me to Taiwan. My closet and drawers are becoming emptier and emptier.
It sometimes seems crazy to me that this is it. After this summer is over I start a whole new chapter in life, and it is both thrilling and terrifying. I am packing up my childhood so that I can take my first steps into adulthood. It will be an exciting few years as I take my gap year and then move on to university, and I will walk into this chapter of life with an open mind and an open heart. While living abroad as an exchange student is an absolutely amazing experience, it doesn’t come without some tough times. It is hard having to adjust to a new way of living, and homesickness can hit harder than you expect. It is different for each person. During my exchange to Germany, I knew people who struggled most with homesickness at the beginning. For others, homesickness appeared towards the end of their exchange. For me personally, I felt the worst of it at the beginning of the year.
A lot of websites and exchange programs warn about the cycle of living abroad. There is a “honeymoon” stage, a stage of excitement and thrill to be in a new country, before the homesickness settles in. For me, however, I felt it as soon as I got on the plane to go to Germany. It was my first time being away from my family, and it stressed me out. I felt myself regretting making this decision, and I spent the first two months of my exchange year in a despondent and morose mood. I found myself skyping my family every week, and sometimes it was more than once per week, just so I could see their faces or talk to them. I found it hard to speak German. Everyone wanted to speak English with me, so I wasn’t learning the language I had come to learn, which frustrated me greatly. I didn’t really leave the house. It was all so new and I was hesitant to explore any of it. I struggled those first two months, and I really questioned whether this had been a good idea to come to Germany. Now that I have graduated from Boise High School and am planning my year abroad, I have thought a lot about why I have chosen to do another year abroad. The first time I decided to do an exchange year, I had been inspired by my best friend from middle school, who had been from Germany herself. I thought that it was so cool that she had lived in another country and that she could speak more than one language, and I decided that I wanted that for myself. It was this desire to see what was beyond my state of Idaho that compelled me to go live abroad the first time around. It was the allure of the unknown that pulled me out of the comfortable bubble I had been living in my whole life.
As I lived and studied for a year in Germany, I began to understand more about myself and the world around me, and I was able to learn valuable lessons that have now motivated me to continue studying abroad. Out of the countless things I was able to explore in Germany, I have comprised a list of five reasons as to why I have decided to live and study abroad again. Taiwan here I come! I am loving the chance to learn Mandarin. It is a very challenging language, but it is also very beautiful. I cannot wait to begin my year abroad in Taiwan!
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AuthorI am Angie. I travel the world making new friends and learning new things. Archives
December 2018
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