Help Me I'm Feeling: Reflecting On A Very Unique Study Abroad Experience

I really would never classify myself as someone who gets wrapped up in deep-reflections and emotions. It takes me a very, almost concerningly, long time to process things. For instance, our swift evacuation from Brussels? I genuinely didn’t think it was going to happen. When it was announced our program was concluding and we were to get our affairs in order and go to work to say our final goodbyes, I walked around the city in a daze, unable to process that this was real.

While Autumn, my fellow intern, was able to give an authentic heartfelt goodbye, a final speech to the people we interacted with almost every day for the past two months that acknowledged everything they had done for her, all I could do was nod my head and give a weak “yeah, what she said”.

Quarantine however, doesn’t give you an option to avoid reflecting. It has broken me. Genuinely. I can’t help but send snapchat memories to the friends that accompanied me on the trip, I go through the postcards I have collected from my museum visits, and I continue to go on Pinterest scouring photos from all the places I had booked for weekend trips that I obviously never made it to.

It’s destroying me.

My sentiments exactly

Sometimes, these feelings turn to bitterness and I throw myself a “woe is me” pity party. My dramatic monologues include thoughts such as “of course my abroad experience was cancelled due to a global pandemic”, and “only I would be forced to leave once the weather was actually getting nice”.

I think my group and I have a right to these sorts of thoughts. Most of us won’t be able to afford a grand European escapade anytime soon living the post-grad life, nor will we be offered the chance. I know I was planning to travel as much as possible to satisfy my travel bug so I could focus on my career (and of course so I could up my Instagram feed), and I didn’t get to go to nearly as many countries as I wanted.

Our trip ended suddenly and unexpectedly. There was no way to prepare, and in no case could we have done anything differently. That's why I’d like to take the time and focus on the things I did right, not the things I wish I did.

So, keep reading below to find out my tips on how to enjoy your abroad experience during the onset of a global pandemic.

1. Be spontaneous

One particular weekend near the beginning of our trip my friends and I found ourselves with no weekend plans. We woke up on Saturday around 11:00 am, and instead of just doing laundry and watching Netflix all day long, we decided we would go somewhere. We took a bus to the nearest train station and asked the man working the information desk for a train ticket to somewhere, anywhere. Under his suggestion, as at this point it was 12:30 pm, we all booked a ticket to Leuven, about a thirty minute train ride from Brussels. We had no idea what was there, no clue as to what we were going to do, and it ended up being one of my favorite places I visited in Belgium. We spent the day wandering the cobble-stone streets dodging the rain, we got lost in an art museum, and we had some very memorable hot dogs. It was a perfect day, and it was a day that just sort of fell into place.

I reeally do leuv you, Leuven

2. Always be on the lookout for free souvenirs

Remember the postcards I mentioned earlier? I need to let you in on a little secret. I did not pay for a single one of the nearly 15 postcards I brought home. Are some of them weird? Oh, extremely. Nonetheless a lot of the smaller museums I had the chance to visit would have postcards of art in a box right next to the actual art, free to take. While I was planning on sending out a few of them, I’m glad I now have something to remember the many random museums I ended up wandering into.

3. Frites are always a good idea

To be honest, I was more than a little bit worried about gaining weight abroad. I would bemoan to my friends, telling them to remember me as I was, as I would come back to them a whale. I tried to space out the Belgian treats in the beginning, skipping waffle outings as I had already eaten a croissant that day. I realized, however, that in Europe we do a LOT of walking. A lot. In my head, this was all I needed. I released my mind (and body) from my body image confinement, and I went all in. How many times are you going to be presented with the opportunity to eat fresh, salty, streaming fries on every other corner, drizzled in gallons of delectable Andalouse sauce?

Have you seen more perfect frites?

And that about sums up my study abroad wise words of wisdom. Sure there were only three points, but what did you expect? Hey, I was only in Europe for two months. ;)