Good Byes are never easy

On Saturday I had a going away party in Eindhoven. I'm moving back to Austin tomorrow. I have made some absolutely amazing friends. Friends that have expanded what I think about the world, how the world works and about countries that I never thought I'd make friends from.

It's been an interesting experience. First living with 7 roommates from all over the world. Walk down stairs and understanding nothing because everyone is speaking Spanish or Urdu. I would then go to class and during the breaks or after class I'd be surrounded by Dutch. With all this going on you'd think I would have done a better job picking up the languages. I know a bit of Dutch, enough to say simple things like "Ik spreek geen Nederlands" or "Spreek je Engels." Dutch is a hard language to learn because, well it's a hard language and because nearly the entire country is fluent in English to a level that I can have an in depth discussion about nearly anything.

My friend Greg was telling me that there's something of a psychological theory related to how Ex-pats adjust to an area they live in. He says that it's like a parabola. You start out really excited and happy, everything is new and you're learning a lot. Eventually, the things that were new and interesting become frustrating and just different enough to make it desirable to go home or to be surrounded by people from your culture. It's easy to understand why there are enclaves of people from the same culture. My Colombian and Mexican friends had the similarity of their languages and a few people that bridged their cultures. I didn't have anyone from my culture that I was close with, and seeing the closeness of my friends it some times made it even harder because I was essentially adapting to two different cultures at the same time.

During this time, I had to do some growing and try to figure out how to deal with it. I of course continued to throw myself into the two cultures by hanging out with my Dutch friends and my Latin American friends during my first year here. Eventually, after hitting bottom you begin to adjust and accept things are different and figure out ways to work within the system. Things definitely got easier when Brian and Greg moved over here as they are from the US.

I've learned so much while being here. Through my education, from my friends from different cultures and just being in a totally different type of place. I've learned that I can adapt to truly different and stressful situations. It made me appreciate what I have back in Austin and I think that I'll be a better friend and husband than I would have been otherwise. I'm more patient and less prone to say rash things. I think that I've grown a lot and I can't help but say it's because of the support of my friends here and Davianne back home.

Good byes are hard, especially when you know how much of an impact on your life your friends have made. I'd like to thank you all for being in my life and I look forward to continuing to keep in touch. Hopefully I'll see you in the US and the next time I come to Europe. I also look forward to visiting your countries too!