1. Your friend tells you she wants to study abroad.
You’re like “yeah, I think I want to cut my hair into a bob,” because you think that this conversation is just about stuff that you maybe want to do in the future. You never cut your hair, but you do save a lot of screenshots of your “Carrie Underwood bob” Google Image search.
2. She picks a country
You look at pictures of cute Parisian apartments, snorkeling adventures in Australia, or cliché things for whatever country she decided to study in. Now you officially have wanderlust and have spent an hour on Pinterest instead of studying. Thanks, friend.
3. She actually goes through all of the stuff you have to do to study abroad.
She has definitely told you all about the advising meetings she has attended and the paperwork she has filled out, but you still aren’t entirely certain about how one truly goes about applying to study abroad. You’re kind of shocked that she’s actually doing it, but it still doesn’t really seem like real life.
4. She keeps talking about how excited she is to study abroad.
And you’re like, kind of annoyed because hello, we have fun stuff to be doing right now/you’re REALLY jealous.
5. She starts packing to leave.
Wait…this totally just got real. You’re fighting back tears as you watch her tuck a bunch of super cute outfits into her massive suitcase. Is there any room for you in there?
6. She ACTUALLY LEAVES.
This totally sucks, but it doesn’t feel like the end of the world because you’ve been apart before. It’s just like winter break, or that time you didn’t see her for like a week because you had a really hard exam to study for and she started sleeping over at a new guy’s house a lot. You’re definitely not crying or anything.
7. You FaceTime. A lot.
See! This distance thing is a breeze. Thank you, technology. The time difference is kind of annoying, but you added the city she’s staying in to your Clock and Weather apps, so it’s basically like you’re not even apart. You’re kind of jealous of all of the cool Snapchat GeoTags she gets to use, but like, you’re happy for her because she’s creating super cool memories.
8. Her Instagram game just reached another level.
She just got 300+ likes on a bomb-a$$ selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower, wearing an adorable dress she just bought at a little French boutique while you’re rounding out at about 150 likes in front of the only white wall in your apartment in a Charlotte Russe dress.
9. You have a really fun weekend so you’re actually not even jealous that you’re not in a cool country having the time of your life.
Actually, she’s really the one missing out because you and your school friends do really awesome things all the time. Right?
10. She starts hooking up with a hot foreign guy.
Remember that thing you said about not being jealous? You take it back. He has an accent. You spend the next week walking around campus, feeling upset that your dating pool is limited to one measly country.
11. She changes her hair.
75% of the girls you know who went abroad either got a drastic haircut or a crazy dye job. You wish you could do something totally European and chic, but realistically, you have an 8am and wear a bun everyday, so what’s the point?
12. She’s homesick.
You both FaceTime and cry and Instagram a cute #TBT of the two of you together with a countdown of how many days until she comes back.
13. She complains that she’s gaining weight.
You keep telling her that she’s not, but you also can’t really tell because it’s called FaceTime not FullBodyTime. She does have an entire Facebook album of Italian gelato, but she probably learned her lesson from when you both gained the Freshman 15 after going HAM on the dining hall every night. Even if she did, she’s having the time of her life, and you remind her that yummy foreign cuisines beat a packet of Ramen noodles every time.
14. She’s coming home soon!
You’re super excited, so you’re going to forgive her for that Instagram she just put up with the long caption about how she made the best friends abroad and she’s really going to miss them.
15. SHE’S HOME!
AND IT’S THE BEST DAY EVER. You hug and love each other and are so excited to be in the same time zone again!