Lasting Thoughts on Europe

Paris as seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower

           The experience I have had in Europe this past month has been nothing short of amazing. When people ask me “How is London?” I can’t help but laugh to myself. How am I supposed to describe to someone what has arguably been the best month-long period of my life?

From the people to the culture to the weather to the food to the languages to the cities to the sights to the clubs to pubs to the museums and everything in between, Europe has been far more than I ever could have imagined. It isn’t easy to describe to someone the pure awesomeness of meeting and engaging and making connections with people from New Zealand, Poland, Germany, England and Canada all in the same night. It is impossible to describe the beauty of a boat tour in Amsterdam, or the gardens at Versailles in Paris, or the views on the London Eye.

It’s almost as if being in Europe has opened a door to an entire new part of my brain that I just sort of disregarded before….sort of like going to college for the first time, or falling in love for the first time. From now on, everything I read, think about, discover, purchase, use, do, see, I will think about in a global perspective. Where was that made? What is that culture like? How much did that cost to manufacture in their currency?

I can’t wait to continue to read new books and discover and learn about stories halfway across the world from little Fort Worth, Texas. Even if things that happen over here across the pond don’t affect me directly at home, it’s going to make me a more aware citizen, a more informed citizen, and hopefully a smarter person who is more engaged and in contact with this world. I know that’s a broad statement, but at least I now see how small a deal in the grand scheme of things TCU football is, for example. Something that means so much to me means absolutely nothing to 99.999% of the world and somehow that didn’t even register in my mind until I got here.

I’d be lying if I said I was super excited about this trip in the first place. I mean, I had always wanted to study abroad, but it didn’t seem like it was coming at the right time for me. I didn’t have many expectations and I felt like was sort of doing it just to do it but America was where I really wanted to be. Obviously, I could not have been more incorrect and juvenile in that thought process. Now I am about to be back home to my structured lifestyle again and I will continue to do the things I always do, but now I’ll do them with more purpose, meaning, thought, and a better understanding of the world that I live in. I think this trip has changed my life and I can’t wait to explore the rest of Europe one day.

View of London from atop The London Eye