New appreciation

I have a new appreciation for foreign exchange students at Mizzou. (aka the Asians who always walk in big groups, sit together everywhere, look constantly lost and confused, and ask you for directions in another language and are super confused when you point and respond in English..) WE ARE THOSE KIDS! It's kind of funny being on the other side for the first time in my life. I will always ask those kids if they need help now and when i respond, I will talk very slowly... Foreign campuses are confusing and it can be terrifying wandering around knowing no one will be able to explain to you where you need to go in the only language you speak.

Good thing we learned directions in class this week! I can now successfully understand directions when told to me slowly and with hand motions.. As far as learning more of this language, the past two weeks have greatly improved my Spanish! I can understand a lot more now and my host mom and i actually had a conversation with dinner last night! I learned so much about her. Like that she has 2 other houses, one huge apartment down the block (I have no idea why we're not staying there...) and an old house in the countryside of France a few hours from Paris. She goes there with friends in the summer when she doesn't have a student staying with her. How fun! It's so nice to be able to speak so much more in only two weeks.

I've booked my first trip to London for a long weekend in February to see my cousin, Ben, who has lived there for a few years now and a few friends studying there this semester. I can't wait to head back to a city that speaks English!! And where I can order off the menu and know what I'm getting. It will be nice to see family and friends too. I start to wish I wasn't here for so long when I think about the yummy food I'm used to and my nice warm bed. (and house for that matter..) But the little things can't overshadow what an awesome city this is and how great of an experience I'm having so far. Sitting on the beach for hours in January in shorts, going to local bars for the huge Madrid-Barcelona soccer game, and trying every kind of sangria I can find with kids from all over the US with so much in common definitely beats shoveling snow, (or watching my poor dad shovel it..) wearing huge parkas to walk to the garage, and being surrounded by American kids like I have been my whole life. Spain is a beautiful country with such a relaxed lifestyle. I think I'll take 4 months more of that :)


-k