You may be confused (especially if you've heard me utter the phrase "But I AM studying abroad, I'm in the U.S." before). But don't worry. I haven't gone completely crazy. I just changed the way I think about some things. In particular, the idea of studying abroad.
So I'm going to Lithuania. Just for four months. Just to get a taste of living outside the U.S. again. Even if it is a little scary, at least I'll have a good friend and a boyfriend along for the ride.
And though I will probably get lost on average about once a week, maybe I will actually find myself in the process. Who knows?
(My 4-month hiatus from normalcy begins January 2.)
I used to think I didn't need another international schooling experience. I had thirteen years in Ecuador, I thought, so why would I want any more? And then I began to settle down into APU a little more and being an American living permanently on her home soil became less of a novelty and more of an annoyance. Yes, it's nice to have all the time access to In-N-Out and I can hardly complain about the proximity of Southern Californian beaches and did I mention the weather? And then, of course, there are the people I've finally gotten to know almost all the way down to their sixth layer and my great apartment and the fantastic professors in the English department here.
BUT.
But I'm beginning to forget what living internationally feels like. And although I did live in South America for thirteen years, thirteen years is enough to make any place feel like home. I need to discover what it's like to explore a country I've never been in before, to live in a place where I don't know the language, to get hopelessly lost and uncomfortable and terrified in a part of the world I'm not even sure I could pinpoint on a map.
And though I will probably get lost on average about once a week, maybe I will actually find myself in the process. Who knows?
(My 4-month hiatus from normalcy begins January 2.)
