Has it really already been six weeks? Why is everything around me in English rather than German or some other language that I don’t understand? These are the questions I find myself pondering as I sit at home in my own bed. As I reflect on my journey, I am struck with eight life lessons:

• Water isn’t worth it. Wait, what’s this? Why is there a price beside “water” in the menu? And why is the water bubbly? It was always a disappointment to arrive at a restaurant only to find that in addition to paying for the meal, you also had to pay for your water. It got to the point that it wasn’t even worth it to pay for water anymore (I would just refill water bottles in a sink). Instead of getting water with a meal, it just made sense to buy a beer since  we all knew we would have to pay for it regardless.
  

  Not a glass of water to be found

• The amount of people per car is just a suggestion. Want to rent a car for eight people in Europe? Good luck. One weekend myself along with seven of my friends wanted to travel from Pforzheim, Germany to Köln, Germany and then on to Brussels, Belgium. After doing some research, we found out that the largest car we could rent was for seven people. Instead of taking multiple trains, we chose to rent the car and cram everyone (as well as our bags) in. While it wasn’t the most comfortable ride, we disproved the seven person limit. But, of course, don’t try this at home, kids…
  

  Stretching our legs in front of the Kölner Dom

• Sleep anywhere you can. After traveling, going to school, and exploring nonstop, I have determined that anywhere is a good place to sleep. A few simple examples include, but are not limited to: buses, trains, planes, class (whoops), beds (sometimes the beds aren’t always yours), clothing stores, bars, etc. Of course, it always helps to avoid falling asleep in front of “friends” who take embarrassing pictures of you and then post those pictures on Facebook… If the picture wasn’t so embarrassing, I would post it.
• Comfort is more important than fashion. Think those heels look nice? Planning on wearing a dress for a five hour train ride? Think again. Over my six week stay in Europe, I came to realize that looking good didn’t matter nearly as much as being comfortable. Let’s face it, no one wants to hang out with someone who is constantly complaining about how much her feet hurt or how her dress keeps blowing up in the wind. There is a time and a place to dress up, but touring around Europe isn’t always one of them. Save it for the clubs at night!
  

  Case and point: this dress turned my whole body blue & climbing through the vineyard was extremely difficult

• Air conditioning isn’t standard. “Wow, it feels so nice and cool in here.” I don’t think I ever uttered this phrase once while studying abroad. The closest I ever came was, “What a nice breeze from the windows!” Thank goodness I was primarily in Germany (it was cool enough there that I wore jeans most days) as opposed to somewhere hotter. During my trips to Barcelona and Ibiza, I honestly wondered if it’s possible to melt.
• Language doesn’t matter if you have money. I like to think that I know a little bit of German, but I’m nowhere near fluent. Whenever I would go to a clothing store, a restaurant, etc. I would try to start off speaking German; however, I wasn’t always able to convey what I wanted. Although, I soon discovered that the second I pulled out a 20 Euro bill (or whatever it costed) the retailer or waiter suddenly understood exactly what I meant when they previously had been confused. I guess money is a universal language.
• Elevators aren’t a requirement. Stairs. Endless stairs. I have never climbed so many stairs in my life. I have never carried so many heavy bags up endless flights of stars in my life. Would it kill all of Europe to make elevators easily accessible? Maybe that’s why so many of them are so skinny.
• Always carry some change around. Ever have to pay for a bathroom in America? Not a chance. But if you want to use a public restroom in Europe, you better have at least 50 cents on you. Although annoying at first (when I wasn’t prepared), I tended to notice that most of the bathrooms that charged for use were cleaner than free restrooms. As it turns out, the money really does go to a good place: making your experience so much nicer.

Even though I’ll miss waking up every morning in Germany, I know I’ll always remember these lessons and the friends I learned them with. It’s been real, Pforzheim!

The most bittersweet farewell party ever

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania