Home in Washington

After a couple of long plane rides and three different time zones I have finally arrived home.  It is great to finally be home with friends and family and to be able to sleep in my own bed again.  I know in a couple of weeks I will be ready to head back to Milan as I loved the city and miss the people, family, and friends I made while abroad.  It has been a crazy adjustment getting back into the swing of things here though as I had one day off before I went back to my job at small gift shop in my hometown of Sumner.  Working and catching up with friends and family did not allow for me to get jetlag although I have been extremely tired I got back to a normal sleep schedule quite fast.

Studying abroad in Milan has been an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone who is on the verge of deciding weather to study away or not.  Do not look at the amount of the program, but find a country and city that are intriguing to you and think of all the opportunities you will have with studying abroad; the friends you will make, the classes and internships you will have, and the places you will travel.  When are you going to be living abroad again and have the time to travel with new friends around the world while studying and living life to the fullest.

I would also recommend to stay with a host family if that is an option.  I could not have asked for a better experience than to live and experience the life of a traditional Milanese family.  Living with a host family allowed me to experience homemade food, share my day with four great kids, and have two host parents who really took me in as their own child.  Even though sometimes it was crazy living with a host family because the kids were loud and the family did their own thing I was always invited to go places and share in their weekend plans.  I always had the freedom to come and go as I please which was nice but I always had dinner to come home to and people to share my day with.  All of the other time I felt like I was free to do what I wanted.  Over time I truly had the opportunity to bond with each of the family member on personal levels and although our communications skills throughout the three and a half months was difficult they are and will forever be in my heart.