Day 20: June 2nd, Ground Control to Major Tom...

Today was the end, the real last day in Vienna and all day all I could think of was the song Space Oddity by David Bowie. Much like how the chorus goes it felt weird to go through city once more before I left. I seemed to float along melancholy way remembering all the great times I had and reminiscing on all the things I have learned. I may not have learned the same things as the other students but I felt like I was relearning things I knew. In a way this trip retaught me several things. It taught me to be optimistic again, to aim for higher ideals, and dream of the ways I can help others. There were so many things that Vienna does that I could see be implemented in the US or even on campus. It taught me to believe in myself again and to teach myself that my independence isn't a curse but a strong trait to have. It taught me that even though I may not agree with the current state of my country I can still be proud to be from there, and I can make the change I want to see there. I feel like I will always hold the experiences that taught me these things close to my heart. While I did so many fun and exciting things, the most educational things were the places we would go and just listen to other perspectives. Like the Shades Tours where we learned about the homeless situation in Vienna, I never imagine and system like that but seeing it at work just made me think how that could be done in the US. There was also the day we visited Krems and learned about the health care system. I learned so many new things about how the rest of the world works in help and learned good and bad things. One of the most inspiring things for me was hearing the presentation in the US Embassy, because here was a professional women who was married and still had a family, but was able to travel and help change the world in her own way. I never really thought I could be able to do that as a career but it is possible you just have to look for the opportunities. It was inspiring to see and I enjoyed learning about the whole process of forge in service. Really just being abroad was in a way refreshing for me. After being surrounded by pretty like minded people in college (they do have different ways of thinking I just talk to the same people quite often) it was exciting to hear from people from a culture I didn't have much experience with. It's really hard to say what I am going to miss the most about Austria (especially since I am not going to far for the time being). I have to say I definitely will be the leisure time, relaxation, and their tap water. I will also miss the small things though like riding the U, seeing all the interesting people there, the sheer number of bakeries, and I think strangle enough I will miss the Vienna State Opera House. It was my first real impression of Vienna and I really fell in love with the building and what it does on the first day. Being able to go inside and see a stunning ballet performance there too just made the Opera House one of my favorite places to go. I am going to miss walking by it on my way to AAIE. It's really hard to say in total though what I miss and what I learned here, because you don't really realize it until it happens to you. Perhaps one day I will run into a situation where something from Vienna will help me be a better person, or I will go to fill up my water bottle months later and still remember the good taste of the tap water. I look forward to seeing how I grow from here on out, after all Austria is a part of my heart now. Until next time Austria.