A Half Decade

Five years ago I was a sophomore in college - a century ago and just yesterday at the same time.  Having chosen a university in my hometown - a few miles from the hospital where I was born - I knew I wanted to make it a priority to study abroad. My school had partnerships with three other universities from which I could choose to do an exchange with my scholarship: Japan, Argentina, and Austria. Though all those countries would have been amazing opportunities, I had always pictured my first time abroad being in Europe - with its endless travel options, baroque and Renaissance churches, and cobblestone streets. After mountains of paperwork, a lot of swallowing nerves, and a whole bunch of support from family and friends I packed up and moved to a small town in southern Austria for 6 months. 

Figuring out where to buy blankets in a snowstorm without internet, a phone, or car in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language pretty much sums up what it was like upon arrival. However, I was lucky to make great friends and have an amazing experience. I've been dreaming of future trips to Europe ever since I got home. One of the highlights of those 6 months was Mike and Jolyne coming to visit me. Mike had scoped out that I had a two week Easter break even before I knew of it! They made the trans-Atlantic flight and arrived at my doorstep in Klagenfurt. We traveled to Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Munich - all new cities for all 3 of us. It was an incredible 2 weeks of beautiful sights, wonderful food, and fond memories. Since then Jolyne and often Esther and Mike have visited me in all the places I've lived - Asheville, NC; Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; and Nassawadox, Virginia. Few people have come to visit me on these 3-5 month long residencies, but no one has been as steadfast in visiting as this crew. Now it is almost customary for these visitors - there would definitely be a void if they didn't come. I can talk about these places I've lived with people from home and connect the memories in ways that I can't with anyone else. 

We all loved Munich upon our last visit - it was something like the Oklahoma of Europe. Wait, did she just compare centuries old beautiful southern Germany with Oklahoma? - stay with me here a minute --- it's friendly with hearty food and inviting people. They love their Bavarian traditions, but aren't critical of outsiders who want to share it. I felt at home in Munich and always hoped to return, so when Mike declared this was the year for Oktoberfest I truly couldn't believe it. I never thought the timing and planning and everything would work out as seamlessly as it had on our last Euro trip, but I'm here to tell you we did it!