1. You experience waves of nostalgia triggered by finding foreign currency weeks after you have returned.
So, your plane landed back in America over two weeks ago but you continue to discover euros in random pockets of your backpack, you purse, or even a few of your jackets. Each coin or bill brings back memories of your trip abroad. Sometimes it hits you like a brick wall, and you might even begin to tear up a bit. This is normal, eventually you’ll run out of pockets, and the coins will stop appearing. As for the waves of nostalgia, those will probably come and go for a lifetime.
2. You have suddenly become a pro at distinguishing various foreign languages that you haven’t even studied.
One of the greatest things about studying abroad at an international language school is interacting with people from around the world. You probably met a few people who spoke a language you had never heard in conversation before. You may have eventually picked up on the subtle differences between languages such as Portuguese and Spanish or German and Dutch. After socializing with this conglomerate of international tongues, you probably even picked up on some slang in a variety of languages that you try you best to incorporate into your daily vocabulary back in the states to confuse all of your not-so-cosmopolitan friends. It’s okay, when people ask you why you are calling fries “chips,” you can tell them that story about you and your British friend eating at a café in France with a little less guilt.
3. Every time you speak of your travels, you can’t help but come off as a pretentious globetrotter.
“Tell me about all of your crazy stories from Europe!” You have probably heard this phrase before, and you don’t know how to answer it quickly with something other than: “It was amazing! I don’t know where to start!” It’s hard to condense a summer or semester long journey abroad into small talk! However, you could be somewhere as mundane as the grocery store with your friend and then BAM–a memory hits you when you see a bar of imported Swiss chocolate. You turn to your friend and say something like, “Ugh this chocolate reminds me of the time when I was in Switzerland, and we kayaked in Lake Geneva with…” You sense that un-amused look on your friend’s face. You have turned into your pretentious-travel self once again, but of course you continue because she’s your friend for a reason so she’ll listen.
4. You have considered getting a tattoo or other body modification to remind yourself of your life-changing experience abroad.
Personally, I have never considered myself the “tattoo type,” but after traveling abroad, I am still considering joining team tatted! You may be in a similar predicament, or maybe you were brave enough to get a new tattoo or piercing while abroad. Either way, it’s obvious that studying abroad has profoundly influenced you, and it most likely was a truly life-changing experience. You have seen life from a new perspective, and your eyes have been opened to new cultures, languages, ethnicities, and more. Life’s short, so why not get a tattoo as a daily reminder to be more adventurous or more open to new ideas?
5. You have never felt more patriotic in your lifetime.
Living in a foreign country for an extended length of time is absolutely invigorating- every day is a new adventure and you are constantly learning, in and outside of the classroom. But by the time you returned to the US, I bet you couldn’t wait to eat Chipotle again, drive your car on a four-lane highway, or flaunt your American flag cutoffs again. You are convinced that America really is the greatest place in the world, but you know you’ll still have a piece of your heart abroad forever.
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