Study abroad is kind of like being on a perpetual vacation, particularly when you are in Barcelona. I am living in this exotic land where going home at 3am on a Wednesday is considered early. In this place there is a wonderful woman who feeds me two home-cooked meals everyday and washes my clothes once a week, I have the ability to jet off to a completely new city or even a new country almost whenever the mood strikes, and the icing on the cake is that my grades are pass/fail. As a Georgetown student, this is as far away from real life as one could possibly get. As a friend of mine put it, “I used to be a real person with real thoughts. Now it’s all about…Am I going out tonight? What am I going to wear? Is there a cover?”
Midterms were last week and it barely fazed me that I had not opened a book all semester. Granted, that is most likely due to the fact that none of my classes have books, but you get the gist. While I did legitimately study for my midterms because I would like to do a little better than just pass, the indulgent nature of being abroad has greatly diminished my ability to devote time to things that are not fun, like schoolwork. Study abroad life is not real life. Case and point: one of my classes was held in a wine bar. How much can you really expect someone to accomplish in a bar?
For the last two months we have all been living it up, soaking up the culture one might say. Then yesterday, the inevitable happened. We received the email about pre-registering for the spring semester. Talk about a buzz kill. Picking my classes for next semester is just the first step to easing myself back into reality. Next, I have to think about finding the vastly important summer internship. It has become incredibly clear that although study abroad life may not be real life, real life is quickly approaching whether I am ready for it or not.
Moral of the Story: I’m going to take things slow. No need to rush things. Notice: Reality is on hold until I return from Portugal on Sunday 🙂
