Na Shel Praha

The end is officially upon me. I am sitting on the plane about three hours outside of Portland, and the realization that my trip is over is hitting me pretty hard. I currently am confused on how exactly to feel. I am so excited to get into the airport, hopefully fly through customs and security, and walk through the gates to see my loved ones. But at the same time, my heart is heaving with the awareness that the city that I feel in love with is now going to be experienced only through memories. I have to return to normal life, which means going back to intricate classes, returning to work, and assuming all other responsibilities. It is is both intimidating and exciting. I am ready for the challenge, but slightly hesitant to jump back into everything to quickly. I'm so thankful that I have two and a half weeks of winter break so that I can relax, adjust, and enjoy my family and friends.

The last few days have been quite hectic. With friends leaving at all different times, "good-byes" have become apart of the norm. It is draining to become so attached to people for four months, and then suddenly say bye to them, not knowing when and if a reunion will occur. Yesterday was jam-packed with last minute activities. Meredith and I were up until four packing,  then we woke up at seven to say our farewells to our friend, and then at around eleven the staff came to our room to do a damage inspection. Immediately following, we rushed around showering, cleaning, and finishing up packing. I had some last minute I needed to grab so we headed out to spend our last time downtown. We finished our errands, and then we got to enjoy Prague. We took pictures, went to our favorite spots, and soaked up the beauty one last time. We headed back around five and finished packing. Our room was quite crazy as it is already quite small and Meredith and I had our huge suitcases in the middle of the room, as well as stuff on every vacant surface. It was sad to see our room become more and more bare. Until we packed, we hadn't realized how attached we had come to our room. Our friends were in the room with us almost the entire time. We were all so sad to be separating that we basically stayed together all day just to spend time together. At around seven, a group of our eight closest friends were to Cafe' Louvre for our final dinner together. It was surreal that this was the last time we would share a meal together. It didn't seem like we were leaving early the next morning. A friend had the idea that we would all write a letter to each other and then read them while on the plane. So after returning from dinner, we all sat down and wrote letters to each other. It was such a cool experience to sit and reflect about all of the past memories, funny stories, and touching moments we all shared. I will miss them all very much! 

As we approach Portland, every minute I get more and more excited. It will feel odd to be back in the US again, but I think I'll be very happy. There has been a lot of talk through our program about "reverse culture shock" which is exactly as it sounds, culture shock when a person returns to their home country and has to re-adjust. I consider myself fairly adaptive so I think I will be okay, but I'm a little worried. I have already noticed a few uncomfortable situations in returning. When standing in the airport waiting for our flight from Frankfurt Germany to Portland, I was overwhelmed with how much English I was hearing. In Prague, we rarely hear english except amongst ourselves. This means that everything is a lot quieter for me because while out and about I'm completely disconnected from outside conversations since I do not understand them. When we were waiting in the line, my head was oscillating from all the many conversations occurring. I was trying to keep up with all of them, just because my mind understood what they were saying, It was as if I was on "eavesdrop over-load." It was an unexpectedly awkward situation. My honest opinion is that I will adjust fine, but I'm just going to be patient with myself and take all the time I need.

I cannot believe this is my last blog entry. The end really is upon me. Studying abroad has been by far a major highlight of my life thus far. After an emotional good-bye to everyone, we loaded into the taxi and once I stopped crying my friend Chelsea and I were in awe of everything we had experience since being abroad. I am a changed person. My eyes as well as viewpoints have shifted to a global perspective. I have learned so much about different cultures, and their relation to the world. I have enhanced my perspectives deeply. I will take away invaluable qualities from being in the Czech Republic. 

Real quickly, I just wanted to thank my parents for being so amazing and financially as well as emotionally support me through the last four months. This entire experience would not have happened without them. Also, I want to thank Joe. Me being gone for so long was hard on him, but he was always positive and supportive of me. He never once showed weakness. He is my rock. And lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for reading my blog and being apart of my trip. I loved all the comments and feedback. It was a blast for me to be able to document my trip and deliver details in a fun way. 

Two hours away, and my heart is really beating fast. I am filled with anticipation as I am quickly approaching a day I have been day dreaming about for months. I cannot wait. For now, I'm going to try to close my eyes for a few minutes and try to pass the time. Na Shledanou Praha, Hello America!