Prologue to an Adventure

"And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." ~Benjamin Button

Anyone who knows me knows three things are true about me:

1.  I am not adventurous! I order the same thing at restaurants every time because I know I like it. I don't rock climb, downhill ski, or do anything that takes me out of my comfort zone. Heck, I go to school 80 miles from my house and for the past two semesters I've spent more time at home than I did away.
2.  I don’t do fun real well. Experiences I can put on my resume have always been more valuable to me than activities that will just make me laugh. If someone tells me the goal or the purpose, I’m all about jumping on board to make things happen, but doing something just because it’s fun has never made a lot of sense to me.
3. I like to be in control. Itineraries and agendas are my best friend. For the past year, I’ve lived with most of my life mapped out on a schedule. I knew when my classes where, what days I worked, when I had volunteer meetings, and where “free time” would fit in. I knew where I’d be and what I’d be doing six months in advance. If life is organized, then life is good.

So about a year ago when my academic advisor suggested that I consider studying abroad, I immediately shrugged it off. Going around the world was something “other people” did, but was way outside my comfort zone. I was going to focus on my classes, graduate as quickly as possible, and live happily ever after.

Yet at the same time, part of my own vision bored me. Where was the story to it? What was the point? Did I really want to stay in the rut? It was predictable, the purpose was clear, and I was in complete control, but there was something missing. To this day I can’t name what, but it was enough to perk my curiosity.

So as I began looking into different exchange programs. My university had partner programs all over the world including Thailand, Australia, Lithuania, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Spain. That gave me 11 options to choose from.

Australia was an early front runner. I thought that going down under would be an incredible trip. From seeing kangaroos, visiting the Sydney Opera House, SCUBA diving the Great Barrier Reef...it would all be incredible. But as I did more research on the school in Perth, I realized, I'd rather be a tourist in Australia than live in the day-to-day culture.

At that point I decided I really wanted to go to Europe. The history and pageantry of Europe is so vast and fascinating, I decided that was the culture I wanted to experience. So this left me with a shorter list of Lithuania, France, Italy, Czech, Germany, and Spain. I ruled out France and Spain initially because I felt like I'd learned a lot about those cultures in high school. From Spanish Class to European Histroy, we'd talked a lot about the culture of Spain and the history of France. I wanted to see something I wasn't as familiar with.

By dropping France and Spain, I was left with four countries. I was committed to narrowing down the list to three by the end of first semester; that way I would have a nice list to research and consider over the summer before applying in the fall. So I decided to drop the Czech Republic. In my mind, it was one of the countries that—aside from coloring it on a map from time to time in Geography class—there wasn't much significance to it.

So this left me with my magic three and the following arguments in mind:

• Germany: my family's heritage is from Germany and it would be neat to go back and see the history; not to mention exploring history from both World Wars
• Italy: From strolling the streets that inspired Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, to seeing the Roman empire that gave rise to modern civilization, to perhaps even visiting the Vatican, everything about Italy seemed magical.
• Lithuania: This country seemed central and good for travel, plus the communist history would be cool to experience.

After deciding that I'd rather go to a historical area that I knew about, I narrowed the list down to Germany and Italy. Over the next few months of research I’d hear some recurring arguments. They all went something like this.

• "All of the stereotypes are true. The German's are punctual and demanding people. They like order and structure and will push you very, very hard. The Italians like to be social and have fun. It's a very different laid back culture than anything we are used to and it drives American students nuts”
• “If you go to Germany and buy a train ticket for the 4:00 train, it will leave at 3:50 rather you are on it or not. If you go to Italy and buy a train ticket for the 4:00 train, the train may never come and you may have to try again the next day.”
• “If you are walking around at 2:00 in the morning in Germany and you come to a cross walk and there hasn't been a car on that road since God invented assphault...you had better not cross that road. In Italy, they aren't always sure which way traffic is supposed to go."
• “In Germany, you'll drink beer; in Itlay, wine...the choice is yours.”

By the end of summer I had made my decision: I was going to go to Italy! From all of my research, it seemed that the German lifestyle was very westernized and would be very similar to life in America. I wanted to experience something different.

But as I started the application, I made an interesting discovery. Italy had very few classes that I needed for my major. In fact, there were close to none. So at the last minute, I decided to change. I wanted to see a different culture. I wanted to be able to travel Europe. I wanted a new experience...so I applied to the Czech Republic. In October, I received notification that I had been accepted to study at the University of Economics in Prague, CZ.

One month from today, I will leave for Prague. There still a lot to do to prepare. Airline tickets to buy, currency to exchange, classes to register for, but the adventure is so close to beginning. People ask me if I’m nervous or excited, and the honest answer is both. I can’t wait to see the history I’m going to get to view, to experience the culture I’m going to get to live in, and to face the challenges I’m going to have to overcome.

I've decided to use this blog to record my experience. Over the next few months, I will see things, feel things, and meet people that will change my world view completly .I want to make sure that when it is all over, I can look back and remember all that has happend. I plan to share stories, pictures, and videos of my trip so that you can join me in my adventure. It's going to be the trip of a lifetime!