It's been awhile...but now onto ASIA!!

Sorry for the lack of posting anything about Europe, it was a bit of a whirlwind that came with a lot of ups and downs. I travelled all over the place 1. Denmark--the country I studied in...if you can call what I did studying. 2. Spain-Barcelona...probably my favorite place in Europe, absolutely amazing in every way and I will definitely be going back there and want to explore Spain more. 3. Czech Republic-Prague: wonderful city, saw the pope in his pope mobile, went to a castle, the mini-Eiffel tower, Old town square, had amazing food, and went to the opera at the National theater. 4. Hungary: Budapest--not my favorite place on earth, a poor corrupt country, probably not the best place to go when your vacationing...although the exchange rate makes it very affordable. 5. Poland: Krakow: sad I only spent a day here since it was a nice break from the overly large cities I had visited previously. Planned to go to Auschwitz and the salt mines but ended up flying home early...costly mistakes. The one downside to Poland: the only people who speak English are in their upper teens, early 20s...sucks if your in a store, asking directions, or trying to take a bus somewhere. 6. Germany: Berlin: the first study trip of the semester involving too much drinking, sleepless nights and a breakdown...maybe that's why I hated Berlin...7. Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, Siena, Perugia, and Rome: I liked some Italian cities: Venice, Siena, Rome...not crazy about Milan, Florence, or Perugia....nice cities but the first two seemed dirty and overpriced. The canals of Venice were amazing and the David at the accademia in Florence...something that has to be seen, a photograph does not do it justice. I learned that if I lived in Italy long enough that I would most definitely learn Italian. 8. France: Paris, Versailles, Epernay: I don't understand why people hate the French so much, I actually like them a lot and their cities and trains were amazing. 9. Belgium: Brussels: study trip number two was a lot more fun than Berlin despite the black mold growing on the ceiling of our hostel and the crazy hours: they kicked us out of the hostel from 10am till 2pm...horrible. The beer was great and going out almost every night and EU presentations were the norm. The last night I almost ended up having a breakdown---maybe an indication that I can only stand GLOBE students for so long and can't handle them non-stop all the time. 10. The Netherlands: Amsterdam: Long weekend following Brussels, it was fun, learned I cannot handle 420 without freaking out, so have decided not to try it again--probably the healthier alternative. 11. Sweden: Lund: visited Bjorn and his family with my brother, nice chill day, nothing incredibly exciting but hanging out with the Swede was fun and meeting his family was really nice. 12. England/Wales: Brighton, London, Shrewsbury, New Town: Saw Michael and Katie again which was wonderful. Tried crumpets and was a cold rained on tourist in London. Went to Wales for a New Years that involved me passing out at 1:30am....too much alcohol.

Sums up my adventures through Europe, 12 countries in 4.5 months not counting Iceland--saw it from the sky was in the airport 1.5 hrs or Slovakia...8 hr bus ride through the countryside, saw castles, mtns, and stopped at rest stops there.

Being abroad has really changed who I am, at home I had friends to rely on all the time and going to Copenhagen I knew really no one. I was really excited at first, but then made the mistake of not meeting people outside my program, which really ending up biting me in the butt down later. Putting random people together in a group and expecting them to get along is insane, its not going to happen, we are friends with the people we get along with normally, you can't force yourself to be friends with or like a person. I have a few friends within my program, but am really trying to be just a normal study abroad student in Hong Kong, its hard when your already labelled from the beginning but I;m optimistic that it will turn out alright, I've already met some amazing people and I'm not afraid to just start talking to a random stranger...never was really.

I think I've grown up a bit, we'll see what people think once I get back home, but I figured out what I want to do with my life and the steps necessary to achieve my career goals. Learned about relationships with friends and with guys and learned more about myself. I am not the same girl who lets people walk all over me anymore, I don't just try to blow off things that bother me, I confront people about them now---part of growing up, learning to stand up for yourself...its not meant to be mean when you confront someone its just standing up for yourself. I'm through with fake people...can't stand them actually, hate backstabbers, and people who aren't trustworthy. Learned everyone needs friends and family, they're the people who will be there for you when the world falls apart---even if you call them at a ridiculous hour from a foreign number.

The best piece of advice I can offer anyone from my experience is: Don't let others bring you down, do what makes you happy, and never let anyone stand in your way.

More to come later, promise I''ll update in Hong Kong and that some of it will be more lighthearted, those were just some tough lessons I had to learn from my European experience....but now I'm in Asia, so only Asian lessons from now on. :)