Your Location is Set to: De Pere, Wisconsin

I spent the first half of this year on exchange in Wisconsin. Part of the deal was that I submit an article to our online international studies magazine. This is what I submited. It was chosen by the editor as Best Globe Article, I'm not sure if that's based on poor competition or a legitimate attempt, but I thought I'd share it ~ it'll at least give you a glimpse as to what I've been up to. This was only the beginning of my travels this year though; Mexico, England, Scotland, Finland and Thailand will have to wait for another day :)

Flash Back to Reality

I knew as soon as I found that Coles dollar, lost amidst my foreign coins I would fit right back in as though I had never left. As though the hours of flying, the miles I’d traveled were some other life, as though this incredible experience was something separate, something that had happened months ago to someone other than me.

It’s easy to fit back in, but it’s hard to forget. I don’t know if I ever will or ever could.

I spent my last semester on exchange in the small town of De Pere, Wisconsin at the beautiful college of St Norbert. I arrived to find snow up to my elbows and a wind that would whip through every layer of my clothing – despite the jackets, scarves, gloves and many, many layers I wore beneath. I also arrived to find a community excited to invite me in and make me a part of it. I met friends, professors, even administrative staff who were so kind to me and who I will always remember with such fondness. I became a part of life on campus, and it became my life.

I didn’t honestly think I would fall for the United States the way that I did. But I loved it, every minute of it: from the joy of seeing snow, real snow, falling for the very first time, to birthdays and parties with new friends and a Spring Break adventure that took me all the way to Colorado and Utah and everywhere in between… I don’t know if I can capture the adventure in so few words, but I hope I can at least give you a glimpse. I also hope that if you ever have the chance you make your way out on exchange, you do. Wherever you might go, I have no doubt that as it was for me, it will be for you; “ever changing and always amazing”.

PS. If you want to read it twice and check it out in its full published glory, check out: Flash Back to Reality, Macquarie Globe