I recently had the incredible opportunity and privilege of studying abroad. Many students also choose to take this route during their college careers, whether it be to learn about your field of study in a different cultural context, to study a language, to see the world, or just to have fun. However, in a slightly nontraditional sense, I completed a study abroad program that was only two weeks long and took place over winter break. Because I chose this short-term program, a route different from most other students, I wasn’t provided as much specific information before my departure about what my experience would be like, and this resulted in a lot of unexpected twists over the course of my program. Here’s everything I wish I knew before I started the most life-changing two-week period of my entire life.
The details: What made my program unconventional?
At this point, I can’t go much further without expanding on what exactly the study abroad program was. I spent two weeks over winter break, from January 5th to January 19th, studying abroad in Europe. I am currently working towards a degree in Vocal Performance & Theatre, and one of the focuses of the program was learning about opera (one of my main aspects of my degree, if not the main aspect). The emphasis placed on operas and musicals along with the history incorporated into the program was what drew me to it; I can confirm after returning that it was indeed a lifechanging experience to view one of Mozart’s most famous operas in the very same opera house it was premiered in over two centuries ago. Over the course of the two weeks, we started the program in Vienna and spent five full days there, then we traveled to Dresden and spent two full days there, and finally we traveled to Prague and spent six full days there. All of these cities served as musical and cultural hotspots in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, so the program perfectly fit into my course of study, and I had an incredible time.
Like I said, it’s generally more common for college students to choose to study abroad for a longer period of time, like a semester or an academic year. My program was much shorter than average, largely because it was essentially an extremely immersive class. My study abroad was a music history class, informally named “Understanding Music,” and most of the time this class would usually take a few hours each week for 15 or so weeks. Instead, the program was every hour of every day for two weeks. So it was a class that I took and got credit for in which a majority of the assignments and lectures tended to be more hands-on in the countries we visited. We had classes taught by the music history professor who was also serving as the faculty leader on the trip, but many of our lessons were substituted for tours of historic buildings or seeing philharmonic orchestras, and many of our homework assignments or studying sessions were substituted for journals about our day and what we did, saw, and learned. Which was, I must admit, pretty awesome.
when the problems began to arise
The first hint I got that a program as short as mine wasn’t necessarily typical was the general study abroad orientation that all students who are studying abroad have to attend. The information was good, but much of the focus was placed around a very specific timeline concerning cultural adjustment. It also included feeling extremely homesick, alone, and confused about a language you might not speak fluently in a place you aren’t culturally acclimated to. It also dealt with many of the stereotypes and issues that people around the world might have concerning Americans specifically. Then, the presentation pointed out that there would come a time where you would feel integrated into that culture and you will experience reverse cultural shock, and in some cases depression, when things are different after returning home.
Very few of these things discussed in the orientation were true for me. Not only because the program was so short term, but also because we visited three different places and were never in a city for longer than a week. Each region, country, and city in Europe has differing cultural aspects, and it never felt like I was getting too acclimated to any culture in particular. I didn’t feel reverse culture shock either, since I remembered exactly what things were like back in the states and, again, never became overly acclimated to anything.
I was worried that making friends would be difficult. The orientation presentation heavily emphasized the fact that you might feel alone when in another country on a study abroad. However, the group of people participating in the program were all extremely friendly and kind, and we stuck together a lot. We were a very close-knit group by the end of the trip, and I wish I didn’t go into it with such a negative outlook on the possibility of it being difficult to make friends.
Things didn’t go as planned in almost every aspect of this study abroad. While I was learning music history, I was also learning life skills, and just how insane traveling can sometimes be. Below is a retelling of possibly one of the wildest adventures and life lessons I’ve ever had, and this is truly what I wish I knew was going to happen before I left.
Lessons I learned getting there
When traveling, I like to plan for everything. However, there is one aspect of life that can never be truly planned: weather. In the days leading up to my departure, local weather stations began to warn of a very severe winter storm/ice storm/blizzard that was expected to hit the Kansas City area, where I was flying out of, the night before my flight out.
To say I was panicking would be an understatement. I was conflicted about what to do; should I move my flight to an earlier time or day to beat the storm or should wait to see if I can leave so if the flight is canceled, I could have help from the travel agency I booked through, the travel insurance I got, the travel advisors from the school, or the other students in the program? After many hours of calls and even driving to the airport to talk to multiple members of the airline staff in person, I made the decision to change my flight to an earlier time. The first lesson I learned: how to make the call even when it’s scary and you don’t know what the “right” answer is!
By the time I did this, the ice had already started. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the blizzard was already rolling in. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to leave on Sunday afternoon like I originally planned, so I packed everything (although I was very prepared so I was mostly packed already) and my mom drove me to the airport in what was probably the scariest drive of my entire life. If I had been any later leaving, I would probably not have been able to get to the airport, or worse, my mom might not have been able to get back home. After she dropped me off, we agreed that if my Saturday night flight was indeed canceled that there was no way she could come back to get me and I would have to spend a night in the Kansas City Airport alone. This was very close to being my second lesson.
For a while, my hopes were really high. There were still planes taking off and landing, and I knew if I was going to get out within the next couple of days at all, it was going to be now. But of course, nothing can ever go as planned, because the machine that clears the runways of ice was broken. Next lesson: stop expecting everything to go smoothly. I should have already learned that by this point, honestly.
My time at the airport was honestly a blur as I waited for about seven hours as my flight was delayed, delayed again, canceled, switched, delayed, and delayed again. After finally getting on a plane and the pilot promising he was going to do everything he could to take off during the 27-minute window we had to leave, we did indeed leave and I was on my way to Atlanta.
But guess what wasn’t on the way to Atlanta?
My checked suitcase.
I had packed extra clothes and essentials in my backpack, because like I said, I am always prepared. However, I hadn’t accounted for more than a day, maximum two days, without my suitcase, and it was still stranded in Kansas City. You know, where the blizzard just hit and where no flights were probably going to be leaving for another few days. I had no idea how long I was going to be able to go with just my one extra outfit and two extra pairs of underwear, and I was stuck in Atlanta for an extra day because I still had to wait for the rest of my regularly scheduled flights, so I paired up with one of the other girls on the trip who had managed to make it out of Kansas City on the same flight as me, and we had a day out in Atlanta. I went to Target and bought more clothes, plus to Old Navy where I got a pair of jeans that I deemed to be reliable enough for a few 20,000-step days in Europe, and after that we ate Chipotle and literally went to a nail salon to get our nails done, because we were incredibly stressed and we deserved it. Next lesson: treat yourself. But also, find your allies early! My airport/Atlanta/nail salon buddy and I became very close and we are now good friends.
Lessons I learned Being there
My stupid suitcase was by far causing me the most trouble and stress over anything else I have ever experienced. At this point, I was seven hours ahead of my home time zone, so I was texting and calling my mom when I could about my suitcase, I was contacting the airline, I was contacting the travel resources provided before the program started, and my mom would be on the phone with pretty much all of the same people when I was sleeping because, again, crazy time difference. Another lesson: advocate for yourself when you can, but find people to help you too.
One of the lessons I’m glad I learned weeks before leaving was how much an AirTag can help you out. I put an AirTag in my suitcase, so when the airline was confused about where it was or couldn’t tell me anything about what was happening with it, I could check it myself.
After four days in Europe without my suitcase, I found out on the same day that it miraculously arrived in Vienna after probably the longest trip known to man, that my suitcase was tagged with the complete wrong name before I even left Kansas City.
At this point, I was so unbelievably frustrated with the fact that no one was helping me or providing me with any useful information, so after my suitcase had been in the Vienna airport for an entire day without moving, I decided to woman up and go get it myself. Like, by myself. It’s a good thing that Vienna has incredible public transportation, because I walked my butt to the subway station and hopped on a couple trains, and I was at the airport in half an hour.
I was in and out with my suitcase in less than 20 minutes. If only they had let me handle things myself a little earlier.
Final lesson: advocate for yourself. Plan ahead. And please bring more than one outfit in a backpack if you’re checking a bag… you’ll thank me one day!