After five amazing months, I’m back at home in Charleston with my family. As I get back into the groove of my life at home, I find myself reflecting on the incredible experiences I had and the memories I made while abroad. Friends and family members ask me about what it was like to live abroad, the people I met, and the things I did; I often find myself at a loss for words because just a few sentences cannot encapsulate the extent to which my life has changed so much in such a short amount of time.
The month of June was filled with end-of-term papers, amazing trips, laughs, goodbyes, reuniting, packing, and flights. While studying abroad, I made the most wonderful friends who shared their cultures with me, as well as allowed me to create memories that I could never forget with them. In early June, my group of friends and I traveled to Saaremaa (one of Estonia’s largest islands) and stayed in a house there for a few days. While there, we visited Panga Cliff and Kaali Crater, went to the beach, explored Parnu, and went hiking. Panga Cliff was absolutely gorgeous, I had no idea Estonia had such magnificent views! We returned to Tartu and I had to say goodbye to my sweet friends because I was going to be traveling for the next two and half weeks.
The first place that I visited was Lisbon, Portugal where I was reunited with my family who had come to meet me and have a nice summer vacation. I fell deeply in love with Portugal, the bright colors of the cities, the landscapes, music everywhere, amazing food, and so much more. We went to Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, and Cascais while we were there. Although Portugal was gorgeous, there was something that I wasn’t prepared for upon seeing my family again. I am a commuter student at CofC and I have lived at home every semester, so studying abroad was the first time I lived away from home. I found myself struggling to get used to being around them again despite having talked to my family everyday while I was gone. We were in an air bnb where there wasn’t any place to go to be by myself so I had gone from not seeing them at all, to being around them 24/7 for a week and a half. I think this is something that should be talked about more because everyone knows it can be hard getting used to moving to a new place and getting to know new people, but it can be just as hard getting re-acclimated to the life you knew before. Now that I am home, things have been much better now that I have my own space to go to when needed and I am happy to be around my family all the time again.
From Portugal, I went to solo-travel around London for three days. I played tourist and took one of the double-decker tour buses around central London to see iconic sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and much more. However, the main reason I was there was to see Harry Styles and Mitski at Wembley Stadium. I made some friends who I went to the show with and the show was so fun, I cried the whole time.
After London, I headed to Vienna, Austria for another three solo-travel days. I was lucky enough to make a friend with one of my hostel roommates right off the bat and we explored the city together. Vienna was magnificent, I adored the architecture and the culture. I got to see Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” at the Belvedere Palace as well as many more iconic paintings which is something I will never forget. I took a day trip to Budapest, Hungary from Vienna and I wish I spent more time there because it was such a beautiful city and interesting country. While in Vienna, I actually met two girls from CofC at my hostel who were studying abroad in Spain for the semester, had gone to the same Harry Styles show in London, and shared mutual friends with me. Things like this really remind you how small the world is.
I finally returned to Tartu, Estonia on June 23rd and I had to pack up my dorm because my lease ended on June 26th. It turned out that I had purchased way more than I thought I did while I was there and I had some difficulties getting everything to fit in my luggage. Luckily, I was able to bring home almost everything and on the evening of the 26th, I headed to Tallinn for two nights before I flew home. I actually didn’t get around to visiting Tallinn until this time, and I was happy that I finally was able to. Old Town Tallinn/Historic Tallinn was beautiful and reminded me of a larger version of Tartu. I think Estonia has so much more to offer than people think and is definitely a place that should be on more people’s travel lists.
Well, I’ve been home now for just over a week and I’ve been seeing my friends and getting back into working at my local job. I still talk to my study abroad friends everyday and we have plans to visit each other in the future. I am so appreciative to have had the opportunity to study abroad and I wouldn’t have changed anything about my experience. Aitah Estonia, the University of Tartu, and CofC for allowing me to learn so much about the world and myself. I’ll cherish these memories forever.
