1. I miss the friends I made. This was my first time being a part of a group in college and I wish I did it sooner. After coming home, I missed the people from the trip so much. I wish we all lived closer and went to the same college. Life gets in the way but we do try to stay in touch with each other. Experiencing everything with those people made the whole trip even better. I will forever look at the pictures and memories as one of the best times of my life.

2. The beautiful views. The cities and sights I saw were beyond incredible. Just in my home stay town of Bregenz was beautiful. We had the Pfänderbahn and other surrounding mountains that were incredible to look at, as well as, Lake Constance. We even swam in the lake multiple times. Traveling to cities like Prague, Munich and Venice all had different types of architecture that you just don’t see while in America.

3. The food. Oh my, the food was great. German food is centered around meat and potatoes, which is what I live on. But also, the freshness of the food. Europe, in general, does not have as many processed food options as America. They don’t keep as much food on hand. Plus, most of them have smaller refrigerators so they physically cannot keep a lot of food in the house. They have multiple “farmer’s markets” during the week while we only have them once a week. I noticed that prices of food were cheaper as well. Coming back, my stomach had to make an adjustment which made me look at what I was eating. When I miss German food now, I will dig up a recipe or go to a local German restaurant.

4. Exploring new cities. My program was great because I got to travel on the weekends. I visited other countries and enjoyed each of them. Learning to get around a new city with another new language, new currency and new culture is a hard adjustment to make within 2 days but you quickly make the adjustment and enjoy the changes. Being constantly busy and exploring cities is something I really miss, like any person who has studied abroad.