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

Well, the day had finally come – we were about to get on the bus that would take us to Friedrichsbad in Baden-Baden. There we would travel through roughly 17 stages in a spa environment; however, there was just one small caveat… Friedrichsbad is a naked spa. After only spending about three weeks with my fellow classmates, I had to wonder if we were really comfortable enough with each other to spend about three hours without any clothing on. Thankfully, it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.

When we arrived, the girls and guys had to split up (some awkward jokes were made about going through the spa together but those ideas were soon abandoned). Us girls headed upstairs to disrobe and embark on our journey. Each stage had a suggested time attached to it and the goal was to slowly raise your body temperature then lower it as you moved through the spa. The first stage was a shower and our first test in maturity. Luckily, no one made it awkward. The next two stages were a warm-air bath and then a hot-air bath. Both stages were in rooms with wooden lounge chairs where the air was so hot and heavy that it became slightly difficult to breathe. After we finished stage two, we were so hot and hoping that stage three would be cooler; it was so much hotter. The five minutes we spent in stage three felt like 20. Finally we escaped and moved on to the showers again. It was probably one of the better showers of my life. Stage five was to be a soap and brush massage, but we didn’t pay extra for this service so we immediately moved on to the next area (technically stage six was another shower so we also skipped over this as we had just been in the showers). Our next two stops were combined in the thermal steam baths. The warm air felt so good, and we were happy to sit in there for the full time allotment. Then it was time for a thermal full bath. This was the first time we actually were able to swim and it felt so nice to freely move around (think skinny dipping). Now, things got slightly awkward…

As we were swimming and minding our own business, we suddenly saw the boys across the building also relaxing in a thermal bath. There was a large pool in-between us that appeared to be co-ed. The boys spotted us and decided to leap out of their pool and dart into the co-ed pool. But would us girls join them? We didn’t know.

While we pondered this situation, we moved on to stage ten in the thermal whirlpool bath. There was a lot of giggling and some lively discussion in here which actually turned out to be a bad idea, because we were told we had to quiet down by a woman who worked at the spa. Finally, it was decision time…

After building up our courage briefly, the girls sprinted into the co-ed pool. Those few seconds in the open moving from pool to pool were slightly awkward; however, once we reached the safety of the water, all that awkwardness melted away. Until we had to get out of the water, that is. The boys left first and the girls left soon after. We tried our best to get from this pool to the next stage without showing too much.

Stage 12 brought another shower, and then we saw what appeared to be a small hot tub. Because the tub for stage 13 was so small, the decision was made to travel in twos. Myself and another girl were to go first, and I was looking forward to spending some time in the water. It was absolutely not what I expected. The second my toes hit the water, I immediately recoiled. This water was so cold that it physically hurt! After a few seconds of building up my courage, I plunged in for roughly 30 seconds. What I now realize is that this is where my body temperature was being lowered. After exiting the freezing cold water, I was handed a sheet by someone who worked at the spa and I headed over to apply moisturizing cream all over my body. As a group we headed into the reading room where we drank tea and lounged on comfortable chairs. Our final stop in the spa was the relaxation room (it really should be labeled the napping room). We were swaddled like babies in warm towels and blankets, and immediately everyone fell asleep. That was probably the best nap of my life.

While naked spas seem like a foreign concept in America, the Europeans seem to accept it as a common occurrence and nothing to get excited about. All in all, I’m very happy I had this experience.

The outside of Friedrichsbad as pictures were not allowed to be taken inside

Location: Baden-Baden, Germany

This past four day weekend, myself and a group of 11 other students decided to travel to Ibiza and Barcelona. If I’m being honest, I had never heard of Ibiza until I booked my ticket; however, I’m so happy I went.

My group left Frankfurt around 8:00pm and arrived in Barcelona at 10:00pm. Because our flight to Ibiza left the following morning at 6:20am, we decided to sleep in the airport rather than rent a hostel for only a few hours. My sleeping options included the floor, a rather uncomfortable and unpadded chair, or a windowsill. After much consideration, I settled on the windowsill and posted up for the night. When I woke up in the morning, I had huge lines on my face from sleeping on my backpack to keep it from being stolen. Because we had woken up late, we had to sprint from check in to security then on to the gate; two people in my group almost didn’t make it. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once we boarded the flight to Ibiza.

Our hotel provided all-inclusive meals, snacks, and drinks (score!), but we weren’t able to get our wristbands giving us access to everything until around noon. To kill the few hours we had, we all headed to the beach to soak up the morning sun and feel the sand between our toes.

The beach in Ibiza

The next two days we bounced back and forth between the hotel pool and the beach which was only a three minute walk from where we were staying. Every day on the beach, we would be swarmed by club promoters trying to get us to attend their respective clubs that night. The first time two guys walked up to a group of us girls, I thought they just wanted our numbers because they thought we were attractive; however, I soon found out that they were only interested in selling their club experience. After that, every time we set foot on the beach, we would be approached by at least three club promoters (oftentimes many more than that). And now my top five memories…

The Top Five Things I’ll Remember From Ibiza:

1. Playing soccer on the beach at sunset.
2. Finding an Italian sandwich (I had been craving one for a while) at three in the morning after leaving a club.
3. A spirited game of chicken in the hotel pool. And winning, of course.
4. Being told that if we rented mopeds we would have a 90% chance of crashing and potentially dying. We didn’t rent mopeds.
5. How excited I was to run into someone else who spoke English fluently in a club (even if he was Australian).

Sunset on the beach

Location: Ibiza, Spain

Tomorrow. Is it really possible that I am leaving for Germany tomorrow? Yes, it is. But am I packed yet? No, I absolutely am not. I have been home from school for exactly 6 days, and I have spent each one of them with my family and friends as well as eating everything I won’t be able to in Germany (Emma’s Deli tuna salad, I’m talking about you).

While not being packed yet would make most people nervous, I feel calm (calm enough that I can take the time to write this post rather than pack). I have been abroad before, and that has given me a sense of peace knowing that this will be a wonderful and educational trip rather than something to be nervous about. I look forward to meeting new people and experiencing new things, and if I happen to forget an article of clothing or two, so be it.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania