The Last Hurrah

“Five months to change my life.” This was the phrase one of our study abroad friends used at the start of the semester, and the phrase took hold in my heart. Five months to change my life. In the beginning, our study abroad adventure was about seeing something I’ve never seen before, experiencing something outside of Small Town, USA, and of course making the most of my college experience, all while putting a really impressive line on my résumé. Once I heard that phrase, I realized it was so much more than that. Now, I truly believe if you can study abroad for a semester in a country where no one speaks your language, you can do anything.

The first month in Prague was the hardest. I missed home. I missed talking to someone other than Ty and the very few acquaintances I’d made—half of whom were still learning English. I missed seeing the countryside. I missed going to Walmart and being able to buy five pounds of Velveeta at a time. I missed having an oven. I missed having a huge closet full of nothing to wear. I missed classes being challenging because of the content and not because of the language barrier. I missed my family. I missed being inside of my comfort zone. I was so disenchanted that I refused to call Prague “home” when I spoke with Ty. I would always say things like “when we get back to the dorm” or “when we get to campus.” Never home.

Ever so slowly, and sometimes against my best efforts, I was changing my life. In the USA I could count the “friends” I made at college on one hand. I didn’t need any fingers to count the amount of people that I still regularly talk to from my high school because I don’t. Being bullied and excluded in high school had left scars deeper than even I had realized. Sure, I made acquaintances at K-State I would like to say hello to and have a good conversation with, but hardly any friends that I craved spending time with. So, I did what any mentally gifted student would do: I threw myself into my studies at K-State and that consumed my time. Frankly, it was easy to do something I was good at (homework), than to truly put myself out there to make friends. I figured out pretty quickly at CULS, that just wasn’t going to cut it. I was lonely, and my classes were extremely easy with no tests and homework.

I can’t help but feel like the luckiest person in the world that on my first day of class Susan introduced herself. My friend Susan has to be one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. She is just nice; that’s the best way I can describe her. She genuinely cares about people, listens when they talk, and remembers small details about the conversation that the person speaking probably can’t even remember. Top that off with a great sense of humor and you have what you call that a best friend. I feel even luckier that I had four out of my five classes with her. We had fun making fun of the classes and how easy they were, and slowly but surely became friends. Pretty soon we were hanging out on the weekends, and she even came on a trip to Brno, Czech Republic with some of my new friends from America and me. I made more good memories in four months hanging out with Susan than I could have ever imagined.

This is Susan and I in Brno!

Lasma, a girl from Riga, Latvia, and I became acquainted later. The first time we really spoke was in Reproductive Biology when we were watching our teacher handle bull testicles. Nothing bonds you better than that. ;) In addition to Reproductive Biology we also took a class called “Animal Products and Processing,” a class so incredibly boring that even I didn’t take notes. Soon, I had one more best friend. What I love most about Lasma is that she just tells it like it is. I don’t think I’ve met a more honest person in my life. I always enjoyed her company and pretty soon it was Lasma, Susan, Ty, our American friends, and me hanging out.

This is a picture from Radost Fx, a club in Prague. On my right is Lasma, and on my left is Lilly. On the far left is one of Lasma's friends that was visiting for the weekend.

Lasma introduced us to Lilly. Lilly’s real name is Liene, but since no one can pronounce it right, she just goes by Lilly. It really is the perfect name for her because she’s so cute and sweet! Lasma and Lilly introduced us to some Italian guys later on in the semester. (Take American names and add an “o” at the end, and there you have an Italian boy’s name.)

Ty made good friends in his classes that quickly became my friends too. We especially liked a couple from France: Jon Mathew and Emeline. They were such a sweet couple. It was nice to meet a couple to hang out with in a metropolis that is obsessed with being single and clubbing. They introduced us to their friends from France, and we quickly had people to dance with at the clubs or talk to in the cafeteria!

Ty also took a diplomacy class with a girl named Goska from Poland. I feel really bad for her because the closest we could get to pronouncing her name was saying something like “Gosh-kah.” I know it’s not correct, but she’s nice enough that she just smiled and said “close enough!”

Susan and I took a class with a girl from Spain named Erica, who we spent a whole afternoon with attempting to play Frisbee. Well, everyone else through the Frisbee, and whoever I was throwing to played fetch.

Later on in my Reproductive Biology class I met a girl named Grey from Ecuador. She helped me practice my Spanish for Costa Rica, and was even nice enough not to laugh at me—too hard—when she asked me how old I was and I told her I had twenty anuses. (Good thing I’m practicing!)

In addition to that, we had our own little community in our debate class. Our teacher wasn’t the best about staying on task, so as a result we got to know our classmates pretty well! There were a couple of snobby French girls that didn’t really talk to us (or even show up to class on a regular basis) but we made some great friends named Toni—spelled with an i, NOT a y!, Guillem Gene, Stergios (don’t even try pronouncing his name right), Jorge, and Petr. I was really glad we took that class because we really had some fun times… even when Toni and Jorge almost got into a fight about Catalonia’s wish for independence.

We even made friends from K-State, which is ironic considering it took coming to the Czech Republic to do it. We spent many nights together playing cards and talking about the things we missed from back home. Elizabeth missed her boyfriend, Suzy missed cherry limeades from Sonic, Austin missed not having bed bugs, along with a host of other restaurants they don’t have in Europe. (Can anyone say Applebees?!) We really made lasting friendships with them, and I count myself blessed that I’ll have friends to see at K-State.

This is from the time we went to the PUB (Pilsner Unique Bar) and ran into Gandalf and Frodo. From left to right is Austin, Ty, Frodo, Gandalf, Suzy, me, Elizabeth. Our American friends!

Over the course of the semester, something changed. I wasn't constantly longing to go home. I wasn't sad or lonely. I was happy to leave the dorms because there was about a 99.9% chance I’d get to see someone I liked! If we went to the cafeteria, we almost always had someone to eat with. If we planned to go to a club for a crazy Erasmus party, there were about five or six people ready to go! Or, if I just wanted to get out of the room, I could always count on Susan or Suzy to share have a cup of vending machine coffee with.

I became used to not being able to understand all the writing around me, and even though it was frustrating, it was okay not to always be in control and know anything. I loved going out on campus and sitting on a blanket with my husband and a bottle of wine to pass the time. I enjoyed talking to my family on the phone and having something to share with them other than telling them how much I missed home. Before this semester planning a trip around Europe on a budget would have been daunting. Now, thanks to Pinterest, Google, and good old-fashioned practice, I feel like I could do it again and do it better.

These past five months haven’t been without surprises. In fact, they were frequent, but I still was taken aback by the final and biggest surprise of all. On the flight from Dusseldorf to Prague, as we flew into the Prague airport, one word came to mind: home.

I had changed my life. Despite my initial reservations, I have become a stronger, more confident, savvier, adaptive woman. Even though I dearly missed the pastures of Kansas, and our families, I realized they were always with us in our hearts. They were only a phone call away. My sense of home is no longer tied to a city or a house. In the words of a creepy old guy from Joe Dirt: “Home is where you make it.” I’m proud to say I found myself in Prague and a piece of me will always call it home.