Home for Christmas

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I cannot believe I am done with my study abroad semester and will be flying home next weekend! It feels so unreal. It was September just yesterday and the 15 weeks ahead of me felt like a massive monster of uncertainty and nerves. I am beyond blessed to have had time here and I am more than excited to see how I can use what I learned from my experiences in my life back home.

What am I most proud of?  Myself! Just for doing this, to be honest. For deciding to do something big and following through with it. I was terrified to come alone and meet new people and be in a strange place, but I will never ever regret coming. I have met some amazing faces that I plan to keep in touch with, and learned so much about Greek culture and my own culture. I have so many pictures, little mementos, and memories to share for the rest of my life.

If I could change anything about the experience it would have been my mind set in the first half of the semester. When I first got here, it took me a few weeks to settle in, and I have always been a planner so I was constantly looking ahead and looking ahead and counting down until the second half, or a trip, or the end. But now that I am here, I wish I had tried to be a little more in the moment than I was. I did take time to enjoy every bit of it, but I could have enjoyed even more if I had let go a little more in the beginning. It’s ok though!

There is so much I could incorporate into my life back home, and I’m honestly interested to see how much this experience does affect me because right now I can’t tell, but I have a feeling I will once I get back. I would like to incorporate getting out of my comfort zone more in my life back home. I realize this might be a little hard on the MLC campus, but I think in things like my lessons and in my goals for myself I can be more ambitious because this taught me that I can do big and scary things, and that it will turn out ok! I will also be incorporating some of the food;) because I cannot just say goodbye to the amazing dishes here. So I have some recipes to bring back and tell my friends and family about. I’m excited for everyone to try them!!

I am grateful for every part of this experience. For the people who got me here and the people who supported my adventurous yet slightly delusional ideas while I’ve been here. I’m so very thankful for my new friends and roommates. It’s not very often as we grow up that we get the opportunity to make new, close friends, and God gave me an entire apartment filled with these kinds of girls. I am of course also thankful for my faith while on this trip. Getting the opportunity to see Greece from the standpoint of one of God’s created looking at more of His creation and his people but in a different place was…so amazing I don’t have words to describe it. The things I got to see, evidence from the Bible and just walking in places I’d only ever heard about was the answer to some prayers I didn’t know I prayed.

That being said, God’s hand has been all over my experience here. I’ve been safe, I’ve gotten the opportunity to evangelize to people who have never heard of Jesus before or who had heard but were curious to know more from my point of view and culture, which is something I’ve never experienced before. And it wasn’t even hard! I seemed to have all the words for what I wanted to say, which, as someone who can be very inarticulate sometimes, was pretty amazing to realize after the fact. My roommates were probably the most unexpected blessing. I did not honestly think much about the girls I’d be living with before I arrived, nor how my faith life would look without my friends at MLC, but God of course already had that taken care of! Quite a few of my roommates believed in Jesus and were part of churches back home, so to get to talk about my beliefs with them and get song suggestions or even prayers was very welcome when things would get a little lonely.

If I could give any advice to future study abroad students it would be to go on trips with your new friends. The trips and little excursions I did with my friends were some of my favorite memories. Even when we didn’t know each other that well, we planned some little things and it not only helps you to bond and create connections but also helps you try new things so much more. Some of the silly crazy things I tried and experienced would not have happened if I had been alone. Along those same lines, I would say make an effort to make friends with people from the other culture in your classes and at school. Some of my Greek friends are thee funniest people I’ve ever met and they can tell me so much about myself that I didn’t know simply because they observe me from the standpoint of another culture. They also give great recommendations of things to do, see, or try. So…make friends!!! I truly believe your relationships while away make all the difference. It helps with homesickness too:)

In conclusion for my last blog (crying!!) I have a few more pictures from some recent adventures!

Differences between living in Athens vs. the U.S: big and small:)

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Choosing what to write about this week was very exciting. And it just so happened that the day before this, some of my roommates and I were having fun chatting and making a list of some of the things we missed about life in the U.S and some of the other goofy or serious differences we have noticed throughout the semester. I have decided to share some of these differences with you guys!

I’ll start with some of the silly things.

  • One of the first things we all noticed when we arrived and were attempting to move in while being seriously jet-lagged was that there is no such thing as fitted sheets here. You know the ones with the cinched corners that always make you feel like you’re trying to put a shower cap on a refrigerator when trying to make your bed? Yeah, they don’t have those here! A blessing you would think, but no! What we wouldn’t give for a fitted sheet. You have to tuck a regular sheet on the mattress and let me tell you, it comes untucked almost every night.
  • Another silly difference is the use of sidewalks. And roads for that matter. We were informed when we got here that pedestrians have no rights. And it’s true! Walking outside is sometimes a war-zone. You have to act confident and just move and hope that cars don’t hit you because they will not slow down or stop even if you’re there first. Also, people park wherever they want to. On the sidewalk? Yep. In the middle of an intersection? Believe it or not, yes. In front of you while you’re walking….yes that too. You get used to it. It’s a little comical. Another thing to look out for while walking on the sidewalk is other foot traffic. Greeks don’t move over for you. If you are on the sidewalk and they are on the sidewalk, they will run you over if you do not move. The same goes for the Greek pigeons. These pigeons have Greek attitudes and they also will not move for you. The trickiest is when you are trapped by a Greek pedestrian on one side, and a Greek pigeon on the other…then you have to choose between getting mowed down by a person or stepping on a pigeon. Choose wisely. (it’s a harder decision than you would think!)
  • Ah! This is a big one. You cannot flush toilet paper here. Ancient pipes? I’m not really sure. But in the dorms, in public, at school, anywhere…no flushing allowed. It’s a little gross. One of my favorite Christmas presents will be American toilets. No joke!
  • Next is a theory that my roommates and I came up with early in our time here. It was stifling hot when we arrived and all throughout September, October, and most of November, you would be drenched in sweat immediately after you stepped outside. But not the Greeks! I do not remember seeing any sweaty Greeks. It was very confusing. Especially since we all looked like we hopped in a lake. So the theory we came up with, tied to another observation, was this: Greeks exclusively drink only coffee (this was an observation. Exaggerated a bit.) No water whatsoever. So they are in a state of perpetual dehydration which is why they don’t sweat. They have nothing to sweat! We figured this is also why there are no public drinking fountains and approximately 2 total public restrooms. (All an exaggeration of course hehe:) But it seemed accurate.
  • Next up. The accordion child. Yes, the instrument. There is ALWAYS a child with an accordion on the metro. With a little cup for coins. It’s very impressive in all honesty. I can barely play the piano.

 

Moving on to some differences concerning college age Greeks to American college age kids!

  • Restrooms on campus are seemingly just for chatting, and doing makeup.
  • Everyone is always talking on the phone. In between classes, waiting in Iine for lunch, eating lunch…it always seems very important too. Hmmm.
  • There’s more PDA here…they really don’t care haha! Very awkward.
  • They dress WELL. No backpacks…Prada purses, designer sunglasses, slacks…all name brand things. I wear jeans a lot and feel like I’m from a farm.
  • They come to class and leave class whenever they so please with just their phone, a coffee, and a pack of cigarettes!

And lastly just some other differences!

  • Daylight savings time ends a week earlier and the clocks move back at 4am instead of 2am. (Also no one told us when this happened so that was a confusing day hah!)
  • All businesses except for a few restaurant are closed on Sundays.
  • Lots of power outages.
  • Sometimes the Metro just stops and the lights turn off for a few terrifying minutes. But then everything is fine again.
  • Random American businesses: TGI Fridays, KFC, Cinnabon…it’s a little bit weird not knowing any of the names of restaurants and stores and then a random TGI Fridays pops up.

 

Our list is much longer, but those are few of the bigger differences that I have gathered with my roommates while on this adventure! Some things I miss about home, and some things I’ll definitely miss about being here as the end of my trip gets closer and closer:) I’m very thankful for every second of it so far.

Here are some pictures from my latest adventures! Including a Friendsgiving that my apartment put together:)

Halfway!?

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I cannot believe I am already at the halfway point…that it absolutely crazy to me! It’s flying by so much faster than I anticipated. I guess time flies when you’re exploring:) I have so many thoughts on my experience so far and it’s funny because most of them still have to do with me pausing throughout my day and remembering that I am in a different country because some days feel so normal already ha! That being said, I am very proud of myself for doing this and coming here by myself and I’m so glad I did. The people I’ve met both American and from other countries including Greece have been amazing and I get sad when I think about ever leaving them. It’s funny for me to reflect on my first few weeks here as well because I remember thinking that the days crawled by, and I missed home, and normalcy, and 15 weeks was FOREVER to be away. And now that I’m half way through I believe it’s going to be over much too fast. I think that this is an opportunity I will forever be grateful for taking and the memories and lessons that I’ve learned here already and have yet to learn are valuable ones that I can take back with me for the rest of my life.

The format of my daily schedule looks very different here than when I’m at home, and because of that I’ve had lots of time to work on my personal goals which I’m so thankful for as well! I’ve been journaling for the memories, and gone outside of my comfort zone more times than I can count, whether that be traveling 30 minutes down town where I can’t read any signs or trekking somewhere on foot by myself where I also can’t read any signs! Group work in classes, and the school experience in itself has also been an adjustment! I have made so many friends in my classes from other countries it’s so cool. I have two friends from Serbia, one from Germany, and one from Switzerland so far besides my Greek friends:) Learning about Greek culture from the school has also been very enlightening and fun during my weeks here. ACG holds lots of little events aimed to celebrate and inform students about Greek life and culture, as well as to make us feel at home! (They are having Halloween activities this week!) But overall I’m most proud of my progress on my spiritual goal. It’s so normal at MLC to be surrounded by our Lord with chapel and our Christ-driven teachers and friends, but here it is more secular, and so consciously being able to make the choice to stay connected to Christ in my everyday life has been an eye-opening experience too. I have wandered outside of the WELS bubble! Honestly one of the things I miss most is singing hymns with a congregation. I can’t wait to do that when I get home.

All those things being said, there a few areas I would like to improve in the second half of my stay here. Now that I am a little more confident in my independent abilities, I would like to continue to push my comfort zone and see how far I can go! Both of my big trips are planned for this half (one of which is a solo trip!) so I will get booted outside of my comfort zone more than a few times I’m sure. I would also like to try more of the Greek culture personally, like learning how to cook some of their food or asking and learning about some family traditions that my friends have in their homes. A big new goal for me this half is actually also going to be speaking more in class. Thus far, I’ve been pretty quiet unless I’m 10000000% sure of my answer, but in discussions and such I want to add more input this half instead of just listening and kind of voicing my opinions to myself or friends after the class.

I think what’s surprised me the most about Greek culture is their together-ness and pride for tradition. If you want to see something you’ll never see in America, go down to a square at 11 o’clock at night and there will be music and like 70 people of all ages (2-102) in giant circles doing traditional dances. It’s like watching the end of the Grinch movie where they all sing “Fah who Doraze”. And every time I see this, I wonder when they are taught to dance that way. It is not easy, and it does not look easy either, and yet everyone knows how, and I think it’s so cool that that is something that is passed down from generation to generation so that some night in a square you can come together with fellow Greeks for a good time. It’s amazing!

I think what I’ve improved upon most about adjusting to the Greek culture is to never assume. People tell you Greeks are loud and use their hands, but you don’t really understand this until you see it in person. And at first I thought everyone was mad all the time. They sounded mad, and looked mad, and even though I was warned that this is just how they are, it still looked like anger to me! But! It really is not the case. They are expressive, and if you get yelled at, it might be a compliment, you never know!

I am beyond excited to see what adventures the second half of my abroad experience will bring me, and I do hope to improve upon my goals and get the most out of my remaining time here! I’ve attached some pictures from when my parents visited me this past week. It was so good to see them:)

Class in Athens!

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This week my topic of discussion is Academics! I’m excited to dive into this one because things here in Greece are very different when it comes to school. There are both good and bad differences, but all in all, it’s just different!

I am taking four classes here: Interpersonal Communication, Educational Psychology, The American Experience in Fiction, and Survey of World Civilizations. These classes are all very different from one another and I very much enjoy that fact! Class sizes here I think tend to differ depending on major or the specific course. I have one class where there’s 26 of us, one where there’s only 8, and the other two range between 10-15. Some of my roommates, however, are in psychology and science courses with big lectures of 30-40 students, so it really depends! That being said, one of the major differences between the States and Greece is attendance. Attendance here is not as strict as back home. I think technically you get 9 free absences before your grade starts to go down, whereas at MLC I believe it is just 1 or 2 absences! And I think this is partly because of the class/teaching styles here. All of my courses are pretty much lecture based, and homework is not given everyday. I have a few big projects and papers to do throughout the semester that are due in December, but otherwise, the expectation is to show up, pay attention, take notes if you would like, and do your best on the midterm and final. Participation in class plays a greater role in grading here also because of the lack of assignments. I personally really enjoy this. I am more motivated to learn when I do not have to worry about a bunch of busy work assignments and due dates!

I have some great professors here as well! They are very understanding and mostly look for a positive attitude and openness to learn. They are not hesitant to remind you that grades are not everything, and a lot of times their best students have been C-D students and not A-B. Good reminders!

All that being said…absences are VERY common. Fridays, almost no one comes to class! It’s silly. Sometimes my 8 person class has only 2 people, or my 26 person class will have 15 and its so, so common. Or, the biggest difference to me is how students here roll up to class with nothing! Only the American study abroad students come to class with computers to take notes. A lot of Greek students don’t even come with a pencil!

Overall my academic experiences here have been pretty different from what I’m used to at MLC, but I love the different challenges that come with communicating with students from another culture and seeing what their every day school lives are like!

I have some pictures here of the campus and also some pictures of some of my lunch meals from the caf! The caf at ACG is amazing! I love all of their meals here:)

Better by the Dozen:)

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I’m excited to tell everyone about this week’s topic! My living situation here at ACG is a pretty cool one:) I live with 11 other girls all from different parts of the US. We have a great 12 person apartment that shares a kitchen and a pretty awesome balcony that overlooks the neighborhood! Coming here, I was very nervous about who I’d be living with. We were not notified ahead of time how many girls we’d be grouped with, or any names of the girls we’d be grouped with, so we all came in blind. However, as we slowly arrived it was clear I got very lucky with my group:)

12 girls sounds like quite a bit, but it’s actually a TON of fun! Our dynamic is very friendly and balanced. We love to have “family dinners” where we all eat together or bake something and chat if we have the time. All the girls are also super supportive! If anything is wrong, someone is always there to help in any way they can. We encourage each other to go outside our comfort zones with the knowledge that we won’t be a lone, and as a result, my adjustment time here has been very smooth and I’m so very thankful for each and every one of them.

I was initially also worried that I would never take any trips outside Athens while I was here because I am horribly afraid of going places by myself haha! But the crazy thing is, within 2 weeks of knowing these girls, it’s hard to remember not knowing them. I presently have booked a trip with 6 girls to Italy for Thanksgiving! Things I never thought I’d do, I am doing with their help and it feels amazing to be so blessed. Things also tend to be very spontaneous in our apartment so you might think you’re going to have a boring night and the next thing you know, there are 10 people standing in your door asking if you want to go see live dancing in the square and eat gelato…who’s going to say no to that!?

Another cool thing about living with so many girls, is that while we all come from very different backgrounds, I do share a similar faith with a few of them. It’s nice to get a few reminders of my savior from people close to me while I’m living in such a secular place. I had felt pretty alone in my faith up until getting to know them! We are going to be trying different churches around the area on Sundays for some different experiences as well, so I am excited to see how Greek church services differ from my comfortable small-town WELS ones, and to be able to do it with some friends! God really is good:)

I wish I had a picture of all 12 of us, but I just realized we haven’t taken one yet! So attached are some pictures from a few adventures I’ve gotten to take so far with a couple of my roomies<3

 

 

Arrival and Weeks 1 and 2!

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So I made it! I actually somehow got off the 9 hour flight and found where I was supposed to be in a confusing airport surrounded by people who were not speaking English. (The first major success of mine). This experience is already so unlike anything I’ve ever done that recalling all of my first impressions is actually proving to be very difficult! If I start from the beginning, I can say that I saw my very first palm trees! They do exist beyond my imagination. I also remember from right after landing that the urban-ness of the area was overwhelming especially mixed with jet lag. But as I regained a sleep schedule I was able to take in the sights around me and appreciate/notice the different things like the sidewalks, for example, which are very classy and made of different kinds of stones that are also uneven in many places (I would know because I trip on them daily). I also have been notified, and noticed myself, that the driving here is different. People are kind of crazy, they just drive wherever they want whenever they want. It’s pretty funny, actually. You could be walking on the sidewalk and a car will pull up onto the sidewalk right in front of you and the driver will park and walk away and you just have to go around the car! Safe to say my own parking skills would not be heavily judged here:)

The food continues to surprise me every time I have a meal. I’m not sure why or how it’s so good, but they have created flavors that America can only dream of I am certain. Although I have wondered if half of why it’s so good is because of the presentation. They make everything look fancy even if it’s not fancy and that just makes it taste better. The other night I went out to dinner with a few friends and we were presented with some barbecue potato chips. Now, it could be that the potato chips in Greece are just different and more flavorful and crunchy here than in the states, OR it could be that they tasted better because they were brought to our table in a delicately painted ceramic bowl! I’ll have to do some research on this in my down time.

What about the real reason I’m here! School! Well classes have been very interesting so far. Some of my professors are hard to understand so I will be an expert lip reader by the end of this experience. I noticed they seem to be more focused on the process and connection of learning as a class than in individual work, because 3 our of my 4 classes have a group project that will count for a big percentage of our grade. The number of individual assignments seems to be way less. Either that, or I am missing something and I will have a lot of catching up to do on Monday. We’ll see how it goes!

The most memorable point of my first week was going to the acropolis! First of all, pictures on the internet don’t do it justice, and yes, it also actually exists it’s not imaginary. It’s HUGE. It made me feel very much like watching Hercules and I was so intrigued by all the history seemingly frozen in one place. They are working on some restoration too so it was cool to see what the buildings would have looked like back in their glory days as opposed to what they look like now. I can’t wait to see more!

Overall, I had many first impressions of Athens and I’ll probably have more as the weeks go on because there is SO much to see and do here. I’m excited for all of it!

Flying Away This Weekend!

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Well, I leave for Greece in four days! Which is crazy to even think about because I began planning for this trip my freshman year and it was just something exciting I talked about every once in a while and now its actually happening! I have a great mumbo-jumbo mix of emotions flashing through me at different times during these last days, many of them do not even have anything to do with actually being IN Greece, but rather, making sure I have everything I need to get INTO Greece from my flights. The excitement comes and goes. I love fantasizing about what my daily routine might look like, and how different it might be from the one I’m used to. I’ve thought about my daily habits and how those might change in such a different setting. I’ve thought about habits I want to keep, ones I want to break, and new ones I want to try. Re-reading through my goals and expectations sheet again, I was reminded of a few of those goals, but also saw where some of them have changed, or where expectations have already been met! For example, I had big expectations for the ISA program and how well their communication would be during the “don’t freak-out” stage of arriving in a different country and trying to find the rendezvous. But! I have been provided with so many directions and backup directions that I don’t believe even my overthinking brain has been able to come up with a tragic scenario where I don’t know what to do next. So that is very comforting:)

I’ve also gotten the opportunity to chat with a bunch of the other students who are in the ISA program with me! I’ve loved this part because I have already found a few students who are on my flight to Athens, and knowing I can find other people really helps me feel more secure and less alone. It’s also given me an opportunity to realize all the different types of American students I will be with on this trip, which is kind of a cool culture thing of it’s own. My roommate in Athens will be a girl who attends UCLA for example, and MLC is very very not like UCLA I am sure, so it’ll be interesting to see how we both adjust to ACG from our differing experiences at our home universities.

In my free time recently, as I’ve thought more and more about my trip, I’ve really found that my biggest goal is staying in tune with my faith life. It’s the number one most important thing. If I am not grounded in my savior, then I am not grounded at all. While I’m over there, I will not get the opportunity to go to chapel services twice a day, or even regular Sunday services. The friends I make will be encouraging I’m sure, but probably not with the same reminders I’m accustomed to getting from friends of the same faith. In this, there is both a challenge and an opportunity. I will need to challenge myself to stay faithful in my prayers, my devotional life, and worship life. I will need to set aside time to hopefully livestream a chapel service a few times a week or especially on Sundays. The opportunity in this though, is that I can really let my light shine. Maybe I could start a devotional group or even just use my faith to help encourage or comfort others. I feel so blessed in this area also as I realize the kind of history I’ll be able to see. Not only just regular amazing history, but Biblical history! I’m very excited to get to see places I’ve only ever read about, and I’m excited to learn even more than what I already know about those places and the people who live there. I know that if I put myself out there during this trip with the knowledge that Christ is at my back, I will get way more success and experience out of it. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for me and how he will use me according to his will for my life during these next few months!