By nmbutler3
With only two weeks left here in Scotland, I probably should be writing about preparing for exams while abroad and balancing the travel and academic aspects of studying abroad. However, as a fairly typical exchange student, I am writing instead about what I learned while traveling over the past week instead of studying for my upcoming exams. This past week was the university’s reading week, so naturally two of my flatmates and I took the spare time to make our way through Europe, moving farther southeast and farther from English as we went. We started in Amsterdam for a day and then moved to Brussels for two days. Following Belgium, my other American flatmate and I made our way to Barcelona for two days, and then I headed off on my own to Siena in Tuscany to visit a friend finishing the semester there. I could tell you about all the beautiful buildings and lights, and coastal waves, and songlike languages of the locals, but you can see all those in the movies and postcards. Instead, here are the most important things I learned in each city:
1. Plan your visit, or at least make a bucket list of what you want to do in your destination. Just exploring a city on your own and discovering what it has to offer through your own experience can be exciting, and can often lead you to things you would have never found in a tourist map. That being said, never underestimate the importance of a backup plan or at least some planning at all. I learned this in Amsterdam the hard way. Since we were only there for one night and two half days, we hadn’t planned too much of what to do. As a result, we missed out on a lot of really amazing things the city has to offer because we either didn’t’ know about it until it was too late or because we didn’t plan the travelling and directions ahead of time. Luckily, one of my flatmates had done some research and had looked into an art gallery that featured predominately Dutch painters and artists, including several pieces by Van Gogh, so the day was not wasted. We also learned that Van Gogh is actually pronounced Van “Ouaff” (as though you are hacking up the word). Just a nice little fun fact.
2. Make friends with other travelers, not tourists. Belgium was probably one of the most beautiful and lively cities I have ever visited, and the two nights and days we spent there were some of the most fun my flatmates and I had on our trip. A huge part of the fun was the people we met while there. There is a very distinct difference between people who travel and people who are tourists. If you haven’t already experienced this difference, you will as soon as you travel. It is difficult to understand until you experience it, but the easiest way to describe it is that a tourist sees a city, while a traveler experiences it. Needless to say, you should always aim to be a traveler and surround yourself with the like. The travelers we met in Belgium, two Australians, a Canadian and a Brazilian, helped us to experience the city not through the lens of a camera, but instead through appreciative and open eyes.
3. Try to understand some history and culture of your destination before you get there. Barcelona certainly put my Spanish to the test, and while I knew enough for us to get by, it was a limiting factor in many regards. What was arguably more limiting though, was our lack of knowledge of the culture and history of the city. While there, in addition to the classic sites, we went on an alternative tour that explored some of the darker aspects of the city, like its anarchist roots, street art, community structures, social issues and various other topics you don’t normally hear about on a typical tour of buildings and dates. While it was fascinating and mind-opening, I was left with so many unanswered questions and lost appreciation that could have been avoided if I had taken the time to familiarize myself more with the history of the city. I’m not saying you have to pull a full research report on everywhere you visit, but a few hits on a google search, or even better, a few pages in a book, will significantly enhance your perspective on, appreciation for, and understanding of your destination.
4. Be prepared to visit friends outside of the normal context. It is fairly standard to visit your other friends studying abroad during your travels, which can be very comforting and help to keep you connected while on across the pond. That being said, it can also be a very strange and in a way mildly isolating experience. It’s difficult to keep in mind, that just like you, your friends have been spending the semester making new friends and sharing experiences with new people, which can be strange to come into from the outside. Of course, seeing your friend is exciting and definitely worth it, and your friend will be excited to see you and their new friends are likely just as excited to meet you. Just be prepared to miss out on some inside jokes and group dynamic things. Don’t worry too much though; the same things will inevitably happen when friends come to visit you, and it’s all just part of the experience.