January 9–22, 2008, Number 173
Back Home Reflections
It has been nearly three weeks since the last adventure update. I’ve seen a little more of Germany, made the twenty-two hour start-to-finish trip home, celebrated Christmas, welcomed in a New Year, and am in the process of working through the adjustments back to the familiarity of home and hoping to sort and bring order to the thoughts that have cluttered my mind for the last four months.
It was quite an interesting experience to be in Germany the last five days before my departure. About three days into my Germany excursion I was ready to be on my way home. I very much enjoyed Germany and its countryside was beautiful, but there was something else I was desiring, something my heart was guiding me towards, I was anxious to be home. This anxiousness would be with me until I was safely hugging the people I loved in the lobby of my final flight destination at the airport in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The last few days in Germany took me to Cologne and Düsseldorf. Both were fabulous cities with waterfront walkways, and beautiful architecture. Because of my anxiousness to be home I almost had to force myself to care about taking pictures, and wanting to discover the local cuisine or the next little treasure that surely awaited around the coming street corner. I’d have to say I have become quite spoiled in my travels. I almost felt bad that my appreciations for these cities were diminishing, as my departure time grew nearer. My travel pal, Hendrik, and I spent the last day or so of our travels searching for the last of our Christmas gifts for family and friends. In the city of Cologne I found an interesting one. In Germany the city that Americans call Cologne is actually called Köln. The popular American name for the city was given to it because of a popular fragrance that came from the city. The cologne fragrance is called “4711” and was so popular that the city actually became known as Cologne, Germany instead of Köln, Germany. This different naming convention of cities is actually quite popular, and in the local dialect almost all the major city names are either pronounced differently or spelled in an absolutely different way. A more familiar example is my abroad hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark, as known to Americans. In the local dialect the same place is actually named Kobenhavn, Danmark; something that I was completely unaware of prior to going overseas.
With my departure of Germany and my safe trip home my study abroad experience is officially over, and I have begun the readjustments to life at home again. It has been easy and difficult. Home is easy because home is much less complicated than life abroad. I know the people, the faces, the language, the roads, my bedroom and food. It has been difficult to find time to sit down and seriously reflect on the ending of a big stage of my life. Christmas and New Years have been pleasant distractions to the task of thought processing. Even after almost three weeks of being home, I am unsure if I am ready to take on that seemingly monumentous but probably simple task. But sitting down to put this article together is helping for sure.
I thought by now I would have had a huge breakthrough in my reflections of the experience, but I must admit they haven’t surfaced yet. Maybe it isn’t a “ba-bam” type of thing, and maybe it will be more of a slow subconscious reflection and realization that will affect me in ways that maybe seemingly invisible to the unaware eye. I think if at this point I had to put a conclusion together I would come to the realization that life is about balance, and with this balance there will be happiness. A balance between traveling and taking root, a balance between business and rest, a balance between struggles and peace. I am realizing that I am completely traveled out right now. I am not sad that this experience is over, but instead I am so happy that I was able to take part in such a life-altering journey; a journey that stretched my visions, a journey that stretched the skin of my character that I have been so comfortably living in the past twenty-some years; a journey that I will recommend and encourage everyone to do in their lifetime regardless of age or timing; a journey that has aroused new passions for learning, and growing, and sharing those experiences with others; a journey that I will take with me and cherish and a journey that has been scribed into the tablet of my heart that will be carried with me for the entirety of my life. You may be thinking to yourself right now, “Beau, there is no way I can take such a journey, I have to make sure I graduate in four years”, or “I dunno if I can afford it”, or “I have loved ones I couldn’t leave.” To those who may be asking themselves these kinds of questions I say do what you can to go to other parts of the world and experience the life other people live, and if that is not possible, look around you, scale it down a little and find adventure in the life that surrounds you; life that inevitably includes different types of people, jobs and hobbies. The world is an adventure and is waiting for you to make the decision to be an adventurer.
In closing I guess I want to say that adventuring isn’t as much about where you go, as it is about the attitude you carry with you wherever you are. Because everyone in this world wants to be going somewhere and may never make it, but we are all somewhere right now, and being somewhere means there are adventures to be had.
I want to say a thank you for those who have faithfully followed my travels and given their words of encouragement and excitement. It seems that I may not have been the only one traveling and experiencing life abroad these last four months.
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Happy New Year,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885